Many of us are far from satisfied at work. Average job satisfaction levels in the UK stand at 63% with 6 million workers experiencing regular low points during the day. Sadly most of us are chained to desk work to pay our bills with 70% saying financial issues would prevent them from taking time out to pursue other interests.

The day job may pay the bills but it can also be tiresome and for a lot of people, it isn't really what they want to be doing. Sound familiar? If so you'll be pleased to know that we're hosting a live webchat with Olympic champion and Vodafone Foundation sports advisor Matthew Pinsent who has a lot of advice to offer about boosting your job satisfaction levels.

He'll be talking about what it is that drags us down day to day and will be giving us some positive guidance on what we can do about it.  He'll also be talking about a new initiative launching in the UK called World of Difference (WoD). The initiative is totally unique and offers 4 lucky people the chance to put their job on hold for a year and devote their time to charity.  The really good news is whilst doing so they will receive a pay packet of up to up to a £25k and up to £20k to cover expenses!

Based on a model which was initially developed by the Vodafone New Zealand Foundation in 2002, WoD has been rolled out in Australia, The Netherlands, Ireland and now finally in the UK. If you fancy being one of the lucky 4 to work for their favorite charity or simply want to know what else you can do to boost your job satisfaction, log-on to our live webchat and submit your questions to Matthew.

For more information visit www.vodafonefoundation.org

H: Host, Jayne Constantinis

M: Matthew Pinsent, Olympic Rowing champion

A: Andrew Dunnett, Director Vodafone Group Foundation

H: Hello and welcome to the Good Causes show, I'm Jayne Constantinis. Now apparently many of us are far from satisfied at work. Average job satisfaction in the UK stand at only 63% with 6 million workers experiencing regular low points during the day. And with an uncertain economic outlook perhaps now is the time to enhance your career, try something new and have an amazing experience.  To explain what I'm talking about I'm joined by Olympic rowing champion Matthew Pinsent and the director of the Vodafone Group Foundation, Andrew Dunnett. Gentlemen thank you very much for coming in to talk to me. Andrew could we begin by me asking you what is the program World of Difference? What's it all about?

A: The World of Difference is a competition to find four people who want to spend a year working for a charity of their choice. The Vodafone Foundation will pay them up to £25,000 for the year, plus £20,000 worth of expenses. All they need to do is to get their application into us by 31st July, they need to be passionate about a particular cause and really show evidence of that, and then we will have a selection process to choose the four winners by September, and they will be on their way to work for a charity of their choice for that year

H: Sounds too good to be true. I expect you'll be inundated with applications

A: We are being inundated with applications, we have run this in four countries in the world where we have Foundations as well so far, and it's been hugely successful. There aren't many chances to enter a competition like this, in fact we know of no other competition where you'll be paid at that level, with that level of expenses to do whatever it is that you think is going to make a difference, and that's the sort of, that's the key to this program really, is we're looking for people who have shown a commitment and a passion for a particular cause, and there are many people out there who have done that in a voluntary way or maybe they've taken a bit of time off to do it, and the uniqueness about this program is it gives them an opportunity to do that

H: Yes

A: And gives them the finances to be able to do it

H: A once in a lifetime opportunity.  Matthew why are you involved in this program?

M: I'm involved with the Vodafone Group Foundation more generally, I'm a sporting ambassador for them and one of their missions with Vodafone is to enhance people's lives through sport and music, now obviously I've got an expertise in one of those areas, and World of Difference is one of the schemes the foundation has started and it's not new, as Andrew's explained, it's not new globally but it's new now to the UK, and so it's part of the portfolio of charitable work that Vodafone do, and so I've kind of been an advisor for the last 18 months and so this is part of the portfolio going forward

H: So you'll have - presumably somebody will get selected whose going to be working with a sporting charity?

M: Of course, I love to think that sport would be part of it, and actually sport's a great example of an area where people give their time very easily, voluntarily – you think of the – you know evening classes or football, after school or whatever it is and there's the volunteer coach or the clubs survive on volunteers, and now especially in the run up to London 2012, I'd love to think there was someone out there who was thinking oh if only I could pay the mortgage then I'd give a load more time to this, that and the other, and here's the opportunity to try

H: Because in fact there's a stat – statistic, which I can't say – about the number of people who would love to do, make a commitment to some charity work but simply can't because of the finances

A: Yes we suspected that was the case and we did a sort of short fulfilment barometer as it's called, to look at the UK population and see you know how many of us would like to do something like this, and the figures showed that there are 2 million people who would like to take time out and work for charity – 2 million of the working population might take time out and work for a charity of their choice, but about 70% of them are restricted in that because of the financial commitments that we all have, so the key thing about this program is that we wanted to, you know, develop an initiative whereby if people – some of those 2 million – you know could start, then could go and take a year out and really you know make a difference, and another key part of it is, you know we're looking for people and a charity together in partnership, it's not about people who just want to take time out to work for a charity

H: Yes

A: We're looking for people who are coming, you know with a charity, so when you apply at vodafonefoundation.org, when you put in your application form you have to put it in with the support of a charity, you can't just come on your own and ask us to find the charity, it should come in together with the support of the charity who recognise that they need the skills that you have

H: So let's just talk about that in a little bit more detail because I want to get really down to the nuts and bolts of how you apply and what sort of criteria you're looking for

A: Yes

H: So you need to contact the charity, if indeed you're not already in contact with them and – will it only be appropriate if they have a vacancy or might they create a vacancy for you?

A: Depends, some of them have got a vacancy, some when an individual approaches them with a certain set of skills will say yes there's a particular project that we could use this person for, and so they'll build it in that way. We've had approaches from both, we've had approaches from people who you know want to, who have a set of skills and they want to find the charity, and we've had approaches from charity saying you know would it be ok if we go and find somebody to do this role because we really need this particular project to be, to be undertaken, so the crucial thing is that you come together and then you know submit a joint application form because in the very minimalist application form we try and keep the amount of bureaucracy

H: Thank Goodness

A: down to an absolute minimum so we really get, you know focus down to the key issues. The key thing in the application form is you know, you need to apply with the charity support

H: Yes. And Matthew you do a lot of charity work. For people that are thinking it might be for them, try to articulate for us what it is that you get, and actually it sounds rather selfish to talk about what you get from doing good works, but I also do some volunteering with Age Concern, this morning I visited my 92 year old lady in a nursing home and it is incredibly rewarding – just from your experience

M: I think – well I'm involved in lots of different charities, where they're probably at the most professional end, we're talking about Vodafone or Sparks, it's a sports person charity I do a lot of work for, right down to the kind of – I don't know going to a school prize giving or something like that, and inevitably my experience is the same.  You make time in the diary, and when you leave home or you leave your family, you leave whatever commitments you've got and you think why on earth did I say I was going to do this

H: Yes

M: All the way there you're cursing and thinking next time the invite comes I'm going to say no, but I've got to cut back on this. You get there and from the moment you get there and you're welcomed and you're doing what it is you're there – you know for me it's kind of ambassadorial – I'm there to present to people or I'm there to talk about my experiences in sport, I'm there to instigate pupils or young people with the ideas of sport – that's enjoyable. And on the way home you think now I know why I did that

H: Yes

M: And you get so much from it and you think, on the way home you think "I should do more of this, I should do more of this, this is brilliant"

H: Yes

M: And it doesn't – I'm fortunate because my working calendar is relatively flexible, it's not like I have a 9-5, but it's always that feeling of I got a huge amount from it, and when people come up and say thanks very much, that was really worth it, that was brilliant

H: It's like going to the gym isn't it?  I just actually want to take a couple of questions because they're coming in thick and fast. So Gary Abbott – specifically you mentioned the money earlier, he wants to know what the £20,000 expenses covers exactly?

A: Well it depends on the charity you go to, because if you are – all charities have to be UK registered, but if the program that you're involved in is overseas then obviously a consider amount of the expenses will be in travel, and insurance and all those issues and so on. The other basic expenses that have been used in the past are things like phones, laptops, all the administrative set-up costs associated with having you as the person, you know to do that particular program of activity is all covered, so it goes with the charity but then obviously it's drawn down by the person or paid for by the charity to enable that person to do their work

H: Ok. And just while we're on the subject of money, let's cover that – the salary, you're not going to be compensated for the salary that you're currently earning, so if you're applying and you're earning £60,000 you're not going to be given £60,000?

A: No, the salary is £25,000

H: Yes

A: And the £25,000 goes from the Vodafone Group Foundation which is a registered charity to the charity that you come with, so the money goes to the charity and the charity pay you for the year the salary associated with the work you're doing. They also control the expenses, so the expenses are also associated as I've just said with whatever you're doing

H: Yes, fantastic, thank you. Now geography question here. Sean from Wembley says "I'm not sure I want to be away from my family and friends for so long." He's assuming that this is going to be a project abroad obviously. "What alternatives are there for me to contribute something positive to the wider community?"

M: Could be local

A: Yes

M: I mean could be down –

H: Give us an example of a local project then that you've –

A: Well my wife, you know volunteers every week in the food bank in Salisbury. Now the food bank is a social services project that people are referred from the Salisbury area who have run out of food, and surprisingly there are quite a lot in Salisbury

H: Wow

A: And she volunteers once a week for a morning to do that. Now the food bank is staffed by volunteers in Salisbury. Now there must be similar projects so it could be somebody in Salisbury who just wanted to spend you know that year building up a particular project, so it could be something like that, you've mentioned –

M: Could be a sports club down the road, you know. Could actually be a shorter commute than some people are doing to work anyway

H: Yes

M: It could be that – it could be on your doorstep

A: I think one of the things you know from the people that we have – 52 winners around the world so far and one of the things from that is people – and this is one of the things the judges will be looking for – is that you've shown that you are committed to a particular cause and you may be doing it weekends, you may be doing, you know volunteering with the local rowing club, the local football club – you may be running all sorts of projects like that where you've done it in a voluntary capacity and you come home and you think if only I could do that a bit more permanently, and this gives you the opportunity. I think the other thing about this program is it's for some people at a certain time in their life

H: Yes I was going to ask you the age profile of the previous winners?

A: Surprisingly it's 30-55, so it's not you know people who have done university or done a qualification, in their sort of early '20s and just sort of want to have a quick audit as to where things are going

H: It's not a gap year alternative!

A: No –

H: Paid for by Vodafone thanks very much!

A: No it's not a gap year

M: It's a good salary for that if you can get it

A: In the traditional sense of the word, I mean it – you know it comes to all of us at different times doesn't it and some people are looking for something, an emotional experience perhaps beyond what they're doing at the moment

H: Yes yes

A: So it can be a gap year in the sense that it's a year where you take time out, you work on something that you're passionate about, but you're not quite sure where it will lead because some of the people who go on the program then permanently stay with the charity, some go back to their original, you know the job that they came from

H: Yes

A: Others move on into the whole charitable sector in other areas and so on

H: Yes. Because of course it's worth saying that you're looking for skilled people, so perhaps that's why the 35 is not that surprising because it's people who've got to a certain level in their career, their job or whatever

M: I think skill is going to be a benefit, but as Andrew said I think it's passion more than anything

H: Ok

M: It's people who show a passion – you know all sorts of charities, all sorts of groups run on enthusiasm and passion alone. It doesn't mean you've got to be able to you know, oh I'm a carpenter or I'm an electrician – it doesn't you know, doesn't mean you have to have that skill which is applied in that direction

H: Right ok

M: I think you've got to prove that you've got a passion and you're going to see it through

H: Yes ok. Now a different perspective here, we've got a question in from Jeff Gordon who runs a small business. Somebody in his team is interested in applying for it, he's very supportive, doesn't want to lose them.  He won't be pleased to hear that some people carry on working for the charity then! He wants to know what's the benefit to him of letting them go?

A: Well that's a very good question, I mean a lot of businesses, both large and small are aware of the importance of their community engagement, I think more than ever before and certainly a number of businesses we've talked to would see this as a critical part of them making a difference to the community in which they're operating. So there is you know, there is certainly a positive you know contribution and a positive, you know communication aspect to that if that's what, you know the area that his business is involved in.  Some are business to business and therefore that sort of external facing the community isn't such a big issue, but that's one thing with some, so where you're very engaged in the local community, the fact that you've invested by allowing this person to do that can be a very powerful thing

H: Yes

M: And you're likely to get someone back whose transformed

A: Well that's the other thing

H: Yes absolutely, if they were disgruntled before, or dissatisfied or just mildly thinking where's my life going? And they come back invigorated, and of course they may not necessarily go to work for the charity full time but they might then continue to volunteer or you can maintain your interest in the work can't you without doing it full time?

A: You can, you know some of the winners you know have cut loose from their employment and gone and done this and looked to see what happens afterwards, others have negotiated a position with their current employer you know that they would go back to it, and it very much depends between you and the employer, we're not involved in that so the money goes from us to the charity and then the charity employ you subject to you being a winner

M: Also it opens up a dialogue with your employer about what's missing, what would make working here better, even if I don't go for a year and I'm not successful in getting on this scheme –

H: Yes

M: You know maybe we should do something as a company you know on a completely different level

H: Yes

M: You know that's an important discussion to have with any employer

H: Well in fact that brings me to Barry Davidson's question because he says he's worried that a year out from the job might affect his career. Will his current and future employers take him seriously? I think quite the reverse don't you?

M: Yes any employer is going to look at this, I think this is a fantastic attribute to have, someone whose willing to say I went to do that for a year, I pursued that for a year, look at my initiative, look at my ability to go out and win a competitive thing, to go and do something –

H: Yes just the winning of the selection process

A: It's a national competition, it's supported by Vodafone through its foundation, you'll be working with a charity against a strict program of activity for the year, absolutely I mean I think that can only enhance someone's – you often see that self-starter,

H: Yes

A: You're normally – on people's CV self-starter

H: I thought it was something to do with a car! No it's not that is it?

A: No I think it's pretty clear, if someone had gone out and successfully done this, it's going to be a plus

H: Yes

M: And you're always saying at interview level you're looking for those CVs, if you've got 20 CVs they're all much of a muchness

H: Ah yes

M: Then that's a way of standing out

H: Differentiate them

M: Oh I remember the chap who went to work for a year –

H: Yes for sure. And has that been the experience of the people that you know that have been on the program in previous years?

A: Yes we've had no complaints, you know I think for all of them it's been a fantastic experience, and just as it's for different people at different times and stages of their career so people take different routes out of it. For some it's a complete life-changing moment and they go and do something very different, for others it's a time out that has enabled them to think about what they were doing, you know and some have gone back to that, but all of them have said, you know the 52 that have been on the program, have said it's, you know it's been a fantastic, life-changing moment, as have the charities. I mean one of the guys who won it in Ireland used to be an analyst, then he went to help with a self-harm charity in Ireland, and the impact that he's had on their processes, their management structures, all of the sort of things that in a bigger organisation you've got a department that can handle all that and assist you but somebody with those skills completely, you know build up a charity and its, you know its processes and he's done a fantastic job there

H: You mentioned self-starter which is nothing to do with a car – what – can you elaborate a little bit about what sort of person you're looking for? Is it necessarily somebody who has already been working in the charitable sector, volunteering or whatever?

A: No I mean certainly not. Matthew said passion is number one, and that is – when we're, when the judges – I'm not a judge – but when the judges are looking at it they will be looking at people who are passionate and can show that they've got a passion for this particular area and a proven track record – you know another sort of thing you use regularly on job applications, so the passion is the number one, the skills which we mentioned earlier is the second, so a particular set of skills, and then the third thing is the charity's requirement for the skill set that you've got

H: Yes

A: So it's back to your gap year point, this is not about a gap year, this is about a gap year with a very specific focus, you know namely to assist a charity in delivering its charitable aims.  So those are the three, you know the three key things that –

M: I think a degree of courage as well, because I think the ideal candidate is someone whose going to prove that their willing to leave the kind of comfort zone. The ideal candidate isn't the person for whom this is going to be a jaunt or a pay rise

H: Yes

M: Or a – you know I want to get rid of my boring job. It's the person who is willing to say you know what, I've got this and I'm willing to put that on hold, take a step back and go in this direction for a year, and you've got to demonstrate a degree of courage and confidence in your own abilities about that

H: Yes. And we've got a very specific question here, and – do you need to be a UK national to apply?

A: You need to be a UK resident, you need to be over 18 years of age and you need to be applying with a UK registered charity, so those are the three – UK resident, over 18 years of age and applying with a UK registered charity. And if you meet those criteria, you're able to apply

H: Lucy Upton wants to know – this is an interesting one – can she work with two different charities during the year?  The main one she wants to work with says it won't need her full time for a year, so can she – could she work with another one to make up the time? I'm surprised they don't want her full time, aren't you? I would have thought every charity would want somebody full time. Anyway

A: Yes I think it would enhance her application if it was one charity as you say with a full time – I think we're really looking for, you know, you know somebody who can spend the whole year making that difference in a year

H: Yes

A: Rather than having the challenge of you know running two programs

M: How do you expense it, how do you resource it, where does the salary – how do you split the time –

H: Yes

M: Whose responsible, all that, all that might be tough

A: I think she should go back to one of them, decide which one she really wants to run with and go back to them and see if there is more

H: Yes

A: That she can do

H: I'm sure they're not going to turn her down, are you?

A: Yes

H: And another very specific one from Darren Jay about pensions. He makes significant monthly contributions to a pension fund – will he be able to get some form of help towards this in addition to the salary of £25,000?

A: No. Not that I'm aware of in the terms and conditions

H: Right

A: No I believe that there are no funds available –

H: And the expenses are purely for the things that you've talked about –

A: Associated things with the role

H: So associated travel and things?

A: Yes

H: Straight answer. Just talk us through please the practicalities of applying, date, application date, when the judging – when it's going to be announced?

A: Vodafonefoundation.org is the website, there's case studies of former winners on that site so you can have a look at the sorts of people who have been selected in the past in other countries.  There's all the terms and conditions listed there, there is the application form which you fill in

H: Which is very simple

A: Which is very simple yes, we've deliberately tried to keep it simple. We then – applications close on 31st July, we've then got a panel consisting of some Vodafone employees and external judges as well, and they will draw up a shortlist of 20, and those 20 people will be interviewed here in London and then we'll be announcing the winners in early September

H: Fantastic, and when does it start, when does work begin?

A: Well there are lots of issues about you know if you're in current employment you discuss it carefully with your employer so you've sorted out the charity and that's fine, but then if you win you've got to sort out, you know the relationship with your employer

M: But significantly it's not a condition that you have to tell your employer you're applying

H: Right

M: So people can investigate and kind of get short-listed without even –

H: Yes

A: Absolutely and we're not going to talk to any employer in advance of that interview so the four winners will then have a chance to talk to their employer about this if they haven't done already, and then they've got until the 1st December

H: Right

A: To take up the appointment

H: Ok

A: So rather than having a sort of rush in September to do it

H: Yes

A: You know I think that this is a significant change as Matthew said

H: Yes

A: And they've got to have time to plan that carefully

H: Yes, as do the employers

A: Absolutely

H: So if they're on a 3 month notice period then that's going to work fine, so no worries there

A: Yes

H: Now we've got – I'm going to ask you a final question from Michael Rippon who says – it's a really great idea and then I can't believe the next bit. He says "I'm in two minds about whether to apply" – I can't believe that. "Convince me." 30 seconds

M: If he's in two minds then it's not right

H: No

M: I think the ideal candidate will look at this and go – that's what I've been waiting for

H: Yes

M: I think if anyone's in two minds and they're weighing it up and they're thinking oh I'm not sure, I'm not sure, I don't think, I don't think it's right. I think that's the straightforward answer. I think for the right candidate they'll see it and think that's what I've been waiting for, I can think instantly of where I'm going

H: Yes

M: I can think instantly of how that would make me feel

H: Yes. How I'm going to make a difference

M: How I'm going to make a difference

H: Opportunity

M: How I'm going to justify it to my employer

H: Yes

M: It's going to be simple for the ideal candidate, it's going to be very simple

H: Fantastic. Thank you very much for coming in to talk to us

A: Thank you

H: About it and good luck, I hope you find some brilliant candidates, I'm sure you will. And if you would like more information then go to vodafonefoundation.org, thank you for watching and if you're thinking of applying, good luck.  Bye for now.

Still got a question or comment?

Name

Your question Question