Volunteers Week set to be Plymouth's best yet
This year’s Volunteers Week (Monday 1 June to Sunday 7 June 2015) in Plymouth looks set to be the biggest and best yet, with a range of events and activities to suit all.
Volunteers Week is an annual celebration of the fantastic contribution millions of volunteers make across the UK.
Plymouth’s army of volunteers has grown in recent months and the Our Plymouth scheme is working with local organisations to encourage more people to come forward.
Plymouth City Council was selected by the Cabinet Office and Nesta as one of only seven cities in the UK to take part in the Cities of Service volunteer scheme, and Our Plymouth is the name of the local project. Since its launch in October 2014, Our Plymouth has recruited almost 90 volunteers, including Grow, Share, Cook volunteers and Energy Champions.
Councillor Chris Penberthy, Cities of Service Ambassador for Plymouth, said: “I would like to say a big thank you to everyone who volunteers in Plymouth. As a city we could not function without all your efforts – to many people volunteers are a lifeline. I would also like to thank everyone who has organised these events in Plymouth for Volunteers Week. These will help celebrate and thank volunteers for the contributions they make to all of our lives.
“There are some brilliant volunteering opportunities in Plymouth and we have just added the Right to Read volunteer scheme to the Our Plymouth programme. This is where adults can volunteer one hour a week of their time to go into schools and help children with reading.”
Darin Halifax, Chief Cities of Service Officer for Plymouth said: “We have a great tradition of volunteering here in Plymouth and Our Plymouth gives us the ideal vehicle to galvanise local people’s interest.
“There are some fantastic events taking place throughout Volunteer Week so why not come along and find out more.”
Events taking place throughout Volunteer Week include the following (some details to be confirmed):
Monday 1 June: Volunteer Energy Champions will be at the Council’s 1st Stop in New George Street throughout the day to offer advice to customers about making their homes more energy efficient and saving money on bills.
Wednesday 3 June: A range of Grow, Share, Cook activities are taking place at Devonport Live Café, 56-58 George Street, Devonport from 10am to midday. These include a free cookery demonstration with Food is Fun, seed planting with Tamar Grow Local, and advice from Plymouth Energy Community on how to reduce energy bills and make homes more efficient. The aim is to recruit volunteers to be cookery mentors and demonstrators, gardeners, vegetable growers, delivery drivers and energy advisers.
Thursday 4 June: Inspiring Volunteers Awards ceremony taking place at Plymouth University – for more information see here: https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/whats-on/inspiring-volunteering-awards-2015
Friday 5 June: 10am - 2pm – Timebank will be at Central Library holding a Volunteer Recruitment day and various craft activities.
11am to 2pm – Alan Hunt, Tamar Grow Local’s Volunteer Manager, will be at CROP (formerly Diggin’ It) at 45, Penlee Way, Stoke, PL3 4DD holding a drop-in for anyone interested in volunteering with Grow, Share, Cook.
Saturday 6 June: Volunteer picnics are taking place at Drake Reservoir and Mountbatten, as part of Lord Mayor’s Day.
Sunday 7 June: The annual Big Lunch Day is taking place so why not join your friends and neighbours for a Big Lunch. For more information about how to plan it go to www.biglunch.com
The two main local volunteer projects under Our Plymouth are Grow, Share Cook and Energy Champions. Grow, Share, Cook will see the mobilisation of volunteers to grow more fresh fruit and vegetables, the development of community gardens and the distribution of the food to those in need, while the Energy Champions project will promote energy efficiency across the city.
For more information on opportunities to volunteer for Our Plymouth, contact Darin Halifax on 01752 305446 or email darin.halifax@plymouth.org.uk
The Our Plymouth website can be accessed at www.ourplymouth.co.uk
You can also follow Our Plymouth on twitter at @ourplymouth
More information on Volunteers Week is at http://volunteersweek.org/
