Volunteers' Week 2009

Rewarding, recognising and recruiting volunteers

Volunteers' Week Newsletter

Volunteers' Week is celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2009. This annual awareness week celebrates volunteers and volunteering. With more than 22 million people throughout the UK donating their time and effort in one way or another every year, this week is used to recognise their valued contribution to society as well as encouraging others to consider getting involved.

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Volunteers’ Week makes the headlines

Volunteers’ Week certainly made headlines this year, thanks to some great events held around the country and an unexpected splash by London’s own mayor Boris Johnson in Lewisham’s River Pool as he promoted volunteering.

We were delighted to see 440 newspaper articles appear in national and regional papers equating to £261,420 in coverage promoting the week and volunteering. Regionally, across England, the week was well promoted with 51 articles appearing in South West newspapers, 43 in the West Midlands, 42 in the East Midlands and 38 in both South East and Yorkshire papers.

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland volunteers and events also received some great coverage with initial figures showing 52 newspaper articles appearing during the week.

Some great press coverage was also generated in the weeks before and after Volunteers’ Week. We are still finalising these figures, as the team is still receiving press clippings from various outlets.

Volunteers’ Week also received some great national and regional broadcast coverage across the UK, featuring on GMTV and BBC radio and television. Overall more than £191,300 worth of television and radio coverage was generated for the week, (equating to what the coverage would have been worth should it have been paid for as advertisements).  As we know that many organisations don’t have a big budget to spend on promoting the week, it’s testament to the dedication of everyone involved in Volunteers’ Week.

So, again, we would like to say a big thank you to all who took the time to promote events and volunteering stories to their local media. This coverage not only helped to promote Volunteers’ Week but also ensured volunteers across the UK are rewarded, recognised and recruited for their own dedication.

Looking ahead

As planning begins for next year’s Volunteers’ Week we would appreciate your feedback about this year’s 25th anniversary celebrations. As in previous years, your feedback has had a direct influence on the strategy and activities for the following year.

Your feedback will assist us in ensuring that this national awareness week continues to grow and increase awareness of the diversity of volunteering as we celebrate in 2010.

Please take the time to complete this short survey and help shape the week for next year.

Your input is appreciated and valued!

Sharing your event memories

Some great events took place throughout the UK to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Volunteers’ Week and we would like to capture these anniversary memories to use in the future promotion of the week. If you have some pictures or footage showcasing your event and are happy for these to be used please send them to volunteersweek@volunteeringengland.org.

Volunteer with do-it.org.uk this summer

If you know of someone who has been inspired by Volunteers’ Week and is looking to get involved in volunteering, then do-it.org.uk is a great place to start. 

do-it.org.uk now has more than a million opportunities to volunteer in a UK-wide database, including opportunities working with teens or older people, in fundraising or IT, in communications or as a trustee. 

These are listings from Volunteer Centres and major charities such as the National Trust and Oxfam, one-off and long term positions, opportunities to build your skills, to make friends, make a difference and so much more.  Just enter your postcode and an area of interest, browse local opportunities and apply online.  It’s volunteering made easy.

Volunteers make a huge difference to the development and day-to-day running of do-it.org.uk.  We’re currently looking for volunteers of all ages to blog about their experiences on the website.  See the current blogs and the do-it.org.uk opportunity for more information. 

YouthNet – the charity behind do-it.org.uk – also has volunteering opportunities available in its other projects.  If you’re aged between 16 and 25, why not become a ranter, moderator or photographer for TheSite.org or join the project group for YouthNet’s soon to be launched website, Lifetracks.com.

Northern Ireland news

The Volunteer Development Agency had a successful Volunteers’ Week in Northern Ireland with the week receiving the equivalent of £46,000 in media coverage. This was for both regional and local newspapers and broadcast media and its worth should it have been financed coverage.

Approximately 367 organisations participated in the week, an increase from 328 in 2008. More than 80 events were held during the week throughout the province, including a night of fun and entertainment organised by Arthritis Care, a sponsored walk with Quaker Care and Good Morning Ballycastle held a relaxation evening. The Colin Glen Trust also held a thank you presentation and the Wellcome Trust arranged a movie night.

The Agency joined forces with the Association of Charity Shops to give volunteering a profile on high streets across Northern Ireland, working with some of them the largest charities, 14 different organisations in Northern Ireland. These included Action Cancer, Age Concern Help the Aged, Barnardo’s, Oxfam Ireland and Save the Children). Together their combined total of 139 charity shops carried a Volunteers’ Week window display with the strap line Recycle Your Time, Reuse Your Talents and the new Volunteer Now web logo. 

Special 25th anniversary Volunteers’ Week plaques were presented by the Agency to a number of organisations throughout the week to recognise their contribution to volunteering in Northern Ireland. These organisations were Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure, Department for Social Development, Conservation Volunteers NI (also celebrating their 25th year), Northern Bank, Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety and the Irish Football Association.

Approximately 1,000 downloads of Volunteers’ Week resources from www.volunteering-ni.org have been recorded to date and 1,500 thank you and blank posters were ordered along with 5,700 thank you cards and 3,500 volunteer badges.

The Agency also hosted a stand at the Lurgan Show in County Armagh as part of the BBC Breathing Spaces campaign.  The event was covered by the BBC and Donna Stewart, Manager of Craigavon and Banbridge Volunteer Centre was interviewed for the Breathing Spaces website.

An initiative of Volunteering England, Wales Council for Voluntary Action, Volunteer Development Agency (Northern Ireland) and Volunteer Development Scotland, the week will focus on rewarding, recognising and recruiting volunteers.