Charity Urges Local Community to Pledge Some Time to Volunteering
To mark His Majesty the King’s coronation thousands of organisations across the country are getting together to make a difference to their community. The ‘big help out day’ will take place on Monday 8th May, but Community360 doesn’t want it to end there, they are urging the community to continue to support their local community after the celebrations are over.
Cat Wright, Senior Engagement Officer, who leads the Volunteer Centre at Community360 said: “Our commitment to volunteering will not stop at this one weekend, we want to create a legacy from this weekend’s celebrations. There are thousands of ways to help communities grow and prosper every day of the year, whether through simple acts of generosity or by sharing some of your time and skills as a volunteer.”
She added: The ‘big help out day,’ has highlighted the positive impact that volunteering has on our communities. Pledging to volunteer can bring you great rewards, whether you run a business or have some spare time to give, together we can all support
each other to make a big difference to our communities.”
In the last 12 month alone, more than 317 Community360 volunteers, which equates to over 25,279 hours of volunteer time have been helping with things such as organising transport home from hospital, distributing winter welfare packs and signposting to charities or social groups in the area. They have supported local people have their vaccine at the Primary Care Centre in Colchester, local GP surgeries and supporting the mobile vaccination service. In addition, volunteers have supported the organisation making welfare and befriending calls, as well as supporting the Home from Hospital service, the winter resilience project, the Essex Family Support Service and Community Transport.
The organisation is also about to relaunch their Timebanking Scheme which is an ad hoc flexible volunteering scheme which works by exchanging time. Members help each other out and then deposit the hours they spend doing so in the ‘bank’. They
credit their volunteer hours (one hour is one credit) and can then spend their credits to receive volunteer support in return or donate them to someone in need. The exchanges of time can be varied and assist members from across our community while pooling resources, expertise and experiences. Time Banks operate on the principle that time is the new money and every one can participate. These exchanges can involve practical skills such as DIY or gardening, sewing, learning a new language to playing scrabble with someone and sharing a cup of tea.
“It doesn’t matter whether you are retired, unemployed, a student, a plumber a window cleaner or a banker we would love to hear from you.” Said Cat. “Whether you have an hour a week or a few hours a month to spare, everyone can make a difference, everyone has something to give.”
Pop into the One Colchester Hub, Long Wyre Street for an informal chat or email volunteering@community360.org.uk
www.community360.org.uk/volunteering
