Charities celebrate Volunteers' Week 2017

From volunteering at charities to running stalls at school and community fetes, volunteering is on the rise in the UK.

National Volunteers' Week is a dedicated annual event that brings focus and awareness to charity and local community volunteers – it celebrates the difference that volunteers make and provides a unique opportunity to inspire thousands of others to join the volunteering revolution.

To national organisations such as the Citizens Advice Bureau, volunteers are essential to providing an essential service to individuals that require it. In 2016, 23,000 Citizens Advice volunteers provided an estimated £114m worth of time which is phenomenal.

As well as helping people, animals are also helped by UK-based animal welfare charities like Worldwide Veterinary Service (WVS) and Mission Rabies. They send out both vet and vet nurse volunteers to provide free animal welfare to animals in some of the world’s poorest communities. Even if you are not a vet, you can still volunteer for the likes of Mission Rabies, who have just returned from Malawi where they have been undertaking a mass rabies elimination campaign, vaccinating dogs against what is the world’s deadliest zoonotic disease.

The people that help run are beautiful parks, our libraries, our hotel receptions and National Trust properties are all predominantly volunteers and truly showcases what ‘public spirit’ represents.

A report from The Charities Aid Foundation’s annual UK Giving report declares that 89% of people “did something charitable” in 2016, including volunteering, up sharply from 79% in 2015.

Without a doubt, volunteers are the lifeblood of any charity and without them, many charities would not be able to operate at the level that they do.

Whether you have a couple of hours to spare per month or can only commit to as and when a local or national charity would welcome the opportunity to utilise your time and skills, why not give one of them a call today to see how you can get involved.