National Volunteers' Week

Volunteers’ Week (1 - 7 June) is an annual celebration of the millions of people across the UK who volunteer in their communities.  At a time when charities are finding it harder than ever to recruit and retain volunteers, Volunteers’ Week 2023 is a great opportunity to help more people discover the joy of volunteering.  Building on the celebration that started with the Big Help Out on the coronation bank holiday, how will you get involved, thank your volunteers, and inspire your community to join in?

Don’t forget that you can list all your volunteer opportunities free of charge on Ways to help... | OurGateshead. 

However, the week will come … and go, and the great work that VCSE organisations and volunteers do, will continue for the next 51 weeks. DJ Cronin mirrors our Blog from last December, when he said recently that it is therefore vital that volunteering continues to be recognised and promoted for the whole year. We need to build a stronger volunteering ecosystem continuously all year round. We can do that by:

• Measuring the impact of volunteering at your organisation and demonstrating that impact to your volunteers, staff and community.
• Sharing the many benefits of volunteering to your community.
• Ensuring diversity in volunteering and making sure volunteering is inclusive for the communities we serve.
• Identifying and minimising barriers to volunteering.
• Ensuring leaders of volunteers are at a senior leadership level so that the voices of volunteering are heard and considered in strategic planning and aligned to mission and values. You cannot claim to value and recognise volunteers if you don’t apply the same values to volunteer management.
• Say thank you and back that gratitude with the right attitude!

By investing in volunteer infrastructure, we empower communities to respond to the unique needs of their community members through volunteers. Volunteers can offer compassion, time and attention to a neighbour or stranger in need; they have the power to lift a person from a place of despair to a place of hope.

Transforming Disruption to Impact: Rethinking Volunteer Engagement for a Rapidly Changing World (2022)

Celebrate and spread the good news about how you make a difference through volunteering:

• Visit the Volunteers' Week website for ideas and advice on the kind of event or social media campaign you could run.
• Download the comms pack, social media graphics, banners and certificates that will help to promote and style your events.
• Gather and share your volunteers' stories to publicly thank them for the amazing work they do, and to encourage other people to start volunteering.
• Read some of the inspiring volunteer stories in our recent magazine on the theme of Volunteering
• Also check out the magazine for updates about the North of Tyne Volunteering Project, Vision for Volunteering and Skilled Employee Volunteering opportunities through Sector Connector