Published: Thursday, 28th May, 2009 6:30am

Daily acts of kindness

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'A HELPER is someone who sees something that needs doing and does it', surely counts among the best definitions of volunteering.

It stands in stark contrast to the tendency to assume that 'someone else will take care of it'; whether that 'it' is litter, carbon emissions or even, in the tragic cases of Baby P, Victoria Climbie and many others, a child.

In the wake of the investigation into abuses in Catholic institutions in Ireland, one commentator wrote that even the people who delivered the milk should hang their heads in shame if they closed their eyes to what was happening.

But, as the MPs" expenses scandal has demonstrated, it can be spectacularly hard to accept responsibility for our actions - and easier to shrilly demand our rights, say we were only following orders and try to blame someone else.

The Bishop of Oxford, the

Rt Rev John Pritchard, yesterday (Wednesday) urged voters to turn out for next week"s European Elections to combat extremism, saying: 'History demonstrates that for evil to win it is only necessary for good people to do nothing.'

Fortunately, as Volunteers Week, starting on Monday, demonstrates, there are still plenty of people in Reading willing to make a positive difference to the lives of others.

Unlike the tampons, duck houses and cushions meticulously claimed by some MPs, the daily acts of kindness done by volunteers will probably never be laid bare. But the impact of those choices is still keenly felt.

For regular volunteering opportunities, see the Chronicle"s free Wednesday sister paper the Reading Midweek.