Welcome to Volunteers’ Week 2020. This year hundreds of organisations will join forces to say ‘thank you’ to their fantastic volunteers.
Volunteer Centre Camden is delighted to be part of a collaborative action of organisations championing a united response for Volunteers’ Week 1-7 June. This week Volunteer Managers across the UK are coming together to say a massive thank you to all volunteers.
Volunteers have played a vital role from the floods in the winter to helping the nation through the current pandemic. They will go on to play a role in helping the nation get back to the things that we love as we ease out of lockdown. By joining forces in Volunteers’ Week 2020, we are aiming to increase visibility of the vital efforts that all volunteers have made this year.
Throughout the week organisations across the UK will be showcasing the amazing contribution volunteers have made. As the volunteer centre in Camden we will be joining in with others throughout the week to recognise the support given to Camden by volunteers.
Starting today Monday 1st June the themes and focus for each day of volunteers’ week are as follows:
- Monday – Listening & Support
- Tuesday – Health & Well-being
- Wednesday – Fundraising to support service delivery
- Thursday – COVID-19 response and informal community civic action
- Friday – Nature & the Outdoors
- Saturday – Arts & Culture
- Sunday – Sport & Leisure
We will be highlighting local groups which offer volunteering in these areas locally. They may not be recruiting right now, but once things open up again and we find a new normal then these opportunities should be live again. In the meantime check out our social media for the daily highlights…. and if you’re a volunteer or volunteer manager feel free to tag us across all the socials (links in the sidebar) and we are happy to retweet, repost and regram.
One more thing to know … we are hosting a three-day Volunteer Managers’ Cafe, which means that from 10am-5pm on Tuesday through Thursday of Volunteers’ Week 2020 you can book an online video or telephone chat with our Best Practice Manager Shafia. This is your chance to ask any questions that you have about volunteer management, get to the bottom of those tricky situations or just have a general supportive chat about volunteer management to make sure you’re on the right track. Contact Shafia by email to book your place now.
In addition to this, there are a number of other Volunteers’ Week 2020 campaigns and initiatives to get involved in this year, including:
#ClapForVolunteers: Monday 1st June at 8pm. Please tell your neighbours, friends, families, and colleagues – let’s give volunteers the moment of celebration that they deserve. More info.
#WaveForVolunteers: The #WaveForVolunteers social media campaign will encouraging as many as possible to take a photo of themselves saying thank you to volunteers.
#LDNCivSocStories: (1st-22nd June) London Plus campaign to hear stories an showcase the invaluable work civil society and in particular infrastructure charities have been doing to keep London going through these challenging times. More details to follow.
#NeverMoreNeeded: Volunteers’ Week 2020 connects closely with the #NeverMoreNeeded campaign launched to help the public understand the importance of charities to the national effort to manage the coronavirus pandemic. The #NeverMoreNeeded campaign has been set up to make sure charities’ voices are heard and raise awareness of the work they are doing to help the country come through the crisis and recover.
Dominic Pinkney, CEO of Volunteer Centre Camden said, ‘A massive thank you to anyone and everyone who has given up a little of their time to help others, whether it is just checking in on your neighbour, giving blood, going to get shopping for someone or a more formal role with a charity. There are so many people doing so many different things to help and it has been inspiring to see the huge level of effort people are making to support their neighbours during this pandemic. All these gifts of time add up to make our communities and society a much stronger and nicer place to live. Volunteers quietly change the world everyday. Thank you.‘
