It’s Volunteers’ Week 2016! Over 21 million people volunteer in the UK at least once a year and this contributes an estimated £23.9bn to the UK economy. Behind these big numbers is a big contribution.
The theme of Volunteers’ Week 2016 is “The Big Celebration”, so each day Community Action Suffolk is celebrating some of Suffolk’s amazing volunteers and the organisations they support.
How many volunteers do you currently have?
15 wonderful people currently volunteer. We are always looking for more chatty folk who love meeting new people and want to show them their favourite spots on the Suffolk Coast to join us.
What sort of things do your volunteers do for the organisation?
Our volunteers plan a route or more around a favourite spot on the Suffolk Coast that they could show people around – preparing a map, joining instructions, crib notes based on their interests and sometimes even testing out café’s etc. depending on how keen/how much time they have. They test it out on the coordinator and one or two other people. Then when the coordinator gets in touch with a visitor they take them on the route – giving them any useful tips or hand outs and ensuring that photos and quotes are obtained for future publicity and/or improvement.
Share ideas, tips on places to visit via the private Facebook group so that other Greeters can benefit from experiences.
What difference do volunteers make to your organisation?
Without volunteers this service would not exist.
How do you look after your volunteers?
Keep in touch regularly via email and Facebook and occasionally calls and meet ups. Ensure they have all the paperwork they need, feel confident in meeting people and know the risks and how to reduce.
Are you inspired to volunteer? Maybe you’re looking for more volunteers? Find out how CAS can help by exploring the “Volunteering and social action” section of this website (see the menu at the top of the page).
You can contact the CAS Volunteering Team on 01473 345400 or [email protected].uk
