‘A volunteer is worth ten pressed men’, the proverb tells us. What volunteers may lack in experience or length of service, they can more than make up for in enthusiasm and a fresh outlook. Twenty-one years ago the Jesuits in Britain decided to sponsor what we would now call a form of gap-year programme. It was adapted from one that had already been offered in the United States for some years. Young adults putting themselves forward to spend a year as members of the Jesuit Volunteer Community would commit themselves to live by four values: Ignatian spirituality, a simple lifestyle, life in community, and a commitment to social justice. The whole idea of volunteering is one that is currently topical. It is now frequently seen by governments as a means of promoting social cohesion, and regarded as an important element of any adequate CV. Recent events have shown that a blind belief in market forces having the solution to whatever ails us is, at best, naive and unjustified. Volunteering can demonstrate the efficacy of a life rooted in different values. The four key values that the lives and work of Jesuit Volunteers bear witness to, spirituality, simplicity, community and justice, must find some echo in the experience of anyone seeking to live with integrity today.
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