ARE you a keen gardener? Do you like books? Do you like talking to people? Have you got some spare time on your hands?

Then you should keep looking in The Northern Echo as opportunities may soon arise where you can volunteer for interesting work.

If you are a charity keen to raise funds then there may be opportunities to manage facilities and supervise volunteers.

In these tough times, local councils may soon require volunteers for gardening, working in a library or to carrying out other tasks.

You will be helping your council to peg the council tax at reasonable levels, as well as helping to keep the parks looking beautiful and the libraries open for longer hours enabling lenders to continue to borrow books.

You can also help the council to replace full-time employees thereby keeping the local authority’s wage bill down.

Indeed, if you currently work for a council, why not retire and volunteer to carry on working for free?

By being part of the so-called big society you will be getting satisfaction in helping your fellow residents to enjoy their parks and libraries.

John W Antill, Darlington