It is a good question and one where the answer is staring you in the face. :)
No one wants to promise to do something and then find they actually cannot manage it. Sometimes with all the will in the world it happens. Life just gets in the way. Any organisation you volunteer for will understand that; many will try to help you find a role you can do. They don't want to lose anybody's time because to a charity or community organisation it is really valuable.
So there are a few things you can do if you don't want a full time set out role.
Firstly you can be super nice to people on the community. Welcome to the groups they join. Discuss ideas in the forums. Showing support for other members and the journeys they are going through is a type of volunteering. You are supporting someone in a time of need and that would be what many volunteer roles would do.
Secondly is blog, just like this. It doesn't have to be every day or every week just when you can manage them. I am reliably informed people read them, i know i do. I take on board people's experiences and ideas and i share them when i can. In my real world life i go to quite a few meetings and i need information. I don't like to go in with just one idea or one perspective, to see the bigger picture i need to hear a lot of people's experiences. Sometimes those opinions are just good for other people to hear. Sometimes people need to know that someone out there feels exactly they same do whether it is happy and relieved, or painfully sad.
Thirdly, send emails. If you have an issue with something or maybe a suggestion of how to improve. Email in or call someone or even write a traditional letter. Services do not know they need to change if no one tells them. The power a single email can have can be really important. I have recently had trouble with a license company, they were bothering an elderly relative and not updating their records. So i wrote to the MP and Age UK and the organisation that was meant to be keeping an eye on them. I got an apology within a week. My relative is no longer being bothered and now the licensing company has to improve because they are being lobbied. I did not expect to have such success but i did. I am just one person, imagine if we all did it. Imagine what could change.
Feel free to put other suggestions of little voluntary acts of kindness and awesomeness in the comments section. Otherwise have a lovely week and don't forget to come to http://community.macmillan.org.uk/volunteering/we_give_our_time/default.aspx
