volunteering and cleaning toilets

[ethandron]

if you were a volunteer at a visitor centre type of place and were asked to clean what are, in effect, public toilets used by up to maybe 100 people a day, would you be happy to do so, if it had not previously been mentioned to you that this would be something you would be asked to do?
thank you for any opinions.

[ummmm]

Probably...if it helps.

I'm a bit easy going though....

[Quassia]

ethan,
if it's a centre run by volunteers & the toilets are part of that centre .. then I suppose the toilets need cleaning for the centre to function properly. I would be happy to do that x

[mungbeanz]

Somebody's got to do it. You can always say no.

[ethandron]

forgot to say, there are paid members of staff there too. as far as i'm aware, they don't clean the toilets.

[sandyRoe]

As long as the dirty work was done on a rota I wouldn't mind.

[Old_Geezer]

I'd be prepared to take my turn, but would mention I'd not be happy just being given the jobs no one else wanted. But, were I not prepared to do what is needed then I ought not have volunteered in the first place.

[what..the?]

no sorry def not, they should really pay a small fee for a cleaner to do this as a small running cost of the visitor centre they can't expect a volunteer to do this

[ethandron]

toilet cleaning had never been mentioned as part of the volunteers job, and to be honest, i don't think i would have become a volunteer had i known. i had always assumed that there was a cleaner or that one of the staff members did it as part of their job. it's only recently that i've become aware that the volunteers have been asked to do it, although i myself have not yet been asked.
i was wondering how others felt about it, which is why i asked the question here, and am considering what my response would/will be if i'm asked at some point. i'm prepared to turn my hand to most things but i really don't feel happy about cleaning public toilets, although judging by the responses here it would appear i'm in the minority. i feel a cleaner should be employed.
thank you for all your opinions :o)

[netibiza]

I have never had a problems cleaning others toilets. A hotels I worked in int he 60's Old Ship for jj) had a disgusting staff bathroom, so I took a morning off got cleaning items from housekeeper and scrubbed away, after that all the maids kept it clean. also when a nursery teacher in an old finca in Ibiza, the bathroom was literally full to the brim with it, so I knuckled down with another teacher and the headmisstress and cleaned it all up. No prob.

[Euphemia]

I might not be happy but I'd take my turn as long as I had rubber gloves.

[bednobs]

personally i would not do it

[Old_Geezer]

Above being a toilet cleaner yourself then ethandron ? It does tend to imply those beneath you are fit for such tasks but not yourself becuase you are better than them. But I understand that some folk are more fastidious than others. I don't believe we can do a lot to change who we are deep down - but that's a subject for a different thread. The thing is if it has turned out that this voluntary job doesn't suit you, then you are free to withdraw your offer to help. It's a personal decision, not compulsory labour. May be best to check on the details next time you offer help.

[redman41]

They should employ a cleaner ethandron, they seem to want everything done on the cheap, hence Volunteers instead of paid Staff

[ethandron]

nothing of the kind old geezer, can't see how i implied what you suggest, think you're just doing a bit of stirring. and i know exactly what to do if it doesn't suit me, that's not what i was asking, merely wondering how others felt about being in a similar situation. opinion here now seems to be divided.
if i went for a job as a cleaner or chambermaid, or any other job, paid or voluntary, which i knew entailed cleaning toilets, then it would be my choice as to whether i took it or not, and fair play to those who do...but it's not a job i would want. and if it was part of a volunteers roll then it certainly should have been mentioned by the volunteer co-ordinator when we had our chat.
in a similar but different vein, there's no way i would volunteer to be stuck behind a desk being bored to death, or as an assistant in a charity shop, just not my cup of tea at all although i know there are many good people who fulfill these positions very happily.
thanks again for the responses :)

[JonnyBoy12]

It sounds like a bit of a cr*p job to me! I would like to make a joke about this but that would be toilet humour!

[LoftyLottie]

Yes I have been a volunteer and I did do it. I was told I didn't have to, but someone had to, so why not me. It's not a pleasant job for anybody but you have to take the rough along with the smooth.

(I also cleaned all the cat litter trays out at a local rescue centre on a regular basis!!)

(Don't ask me to clear up vomit though!!!!)

[LoftyLottie]

I would mention, that I would only clean them if I happened to be the one that was there. There was only one volunteer in the centre at any one time and the permanent staff were busy doing things I wasn't qualified to do.

[Bobbisox]

yes, it wouldn't bother me at all

[owdhamer]

you dont want to get into a tevez situation