Well, there are lots and lots of ways to do this. Many people who volunteer are quite happy to do something that doesn't in itself give them much satisfaction, since the simple act of doing something to help others is enough for them. Other volunteers see the best way for themselves to give their time as making use of their own particular skills (eg a landscape gardener spending one week a year rebuilding drystone dykes in a heritage area, or an IT expert training people to be computer-literate).

We'd suggest you need to decide the following three things before volunteering:

- How much time can you give, and how comfortable are you with making a long-term or regular commitment of time?
- What do you think you'd most like to volunteer as? Some people make a life-change and give up their professional job to work in developing countries. Other help raise funds for charities. Others still help train people so that they learn skills that'll help them in life. Knowing what you'd get most reward from will help you decide what you might want to do.
- Depending what you want to do, how much demand for the kind of volunteering you want to do will there be locally? If there isn't much, are you prepared to travel further to do what you want to do, or is the simple fact of giving some of your time to help others enough for you, and you're prepared to be flexible with what's available locally?

Once you have a rough idea of what you want to do, have a look at some of the following sites, where you should get some ideas as to what you could do...:

Community Service Volunteers have a great site, with something for everyone. Whatever age you are, CSV is likely to have something you can get involved in. They have a dedicated part of their site for over 50s who want to balance their leisure with community involvement.

The Prince's Trust does a lot of work with young people to help them get on in life. They've got a range of volunteering roles, and options to donate cash. Maybe with your work experience so far, you could become a personal mentor and help give someone a boost in achieving their own life ambitions.

Timebank have a great site that help you see what kind of volunteering is available, and you can find a directory of contacts in your area to get more info on what volunteering opportunities are available near you. Scotland has its own Volunteer Centre Network Scotland website.

Or, if helping to preserve Britain's national heritage appeals to you, why not visit The National Trust to find out about the numerous ways you can help them. The National Trust for Scotland has its own site.

These are obviously just a few ideas. There are literally thousands of worthy charities, who'll be delighted to accept your offer of help. If you know the kind of charity you'd like to help, why not look them up on the internet, and see if you can help them directly?

Volunteering can be rewarding, no matter what age you are. There are people who would argue it's the best use you can put your spare time to. If you think it might be for you, why not dip your toe in the water and find out? It won't hurt to try, and you might just find something that'll change your life...