This week's article for the Herald and Post marks national Volunteers' Week (1-7 June).
As a constituency MP, one of my favourite parts of the job is meeting with volunteers. Individuals who give their time, for free, to help other people in the local area.
People that choose to volunteer have a unique quality. Selflessness. Their dedication to the job and commitment to the cause is always inspiring.
This week marks Volunteers’ Week, which is the annual celebration of the contribution these individuals, and the millions of other people across the UK, make to their communities. The theme this year is ‘Celebrate and Inspire’—encouraging people to get involved in volunteering in whatever way works for them.
We have a very vibrant charitable community here in East Hampshire, and volunteers are at the heart of this. We currently have over 6,500 volunteers actively working in the area and many others joining on a daily basis.
This can range from charity shops to children’s charities to hospices and those involved in campaigning to improve our natural environment.
Most recently I’ve met with volunteers from Hampshire Search and Rescue, who provide a 24/7 call-out service to look for missing people.
Working alongside Hampshire Police, they are now in their twentieth year and recently marked their 1000th call out. These are all volunteers who give up their spare time to help vulnerable people, often in their darkest moments.
A few weeks’ ago, I joined more than 350 people to walk a 5km route around Hogsmoor Inclosure as part of the ‘Charity Walk for Peace’ initiative. Set up by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Elders Association, this walk raises money for 27 local charities (up from four when the first walk was held in 2017) and spreads the message of peace and goodwill amongst people from all walks of life.
In the run up to the King’s coronation, we saw lots of voluntary groups come together to give our towns and villages a spruce up before the big day. People turned out in large numbers to litter pick in their local area. This is always heartening to see.
And it’s not just at these very visible events where we can see the significant impact our volunteering community can have. Volunteers are making a difference in lots of ways. It might be the individual who pops over to see their elderly neighbour every day or goes to the supermarket for them. Or the busy parent giving a few hours of his or her time to provide peer support to another family struggling to balance family life.
However small the contribution, it will make a big difference to someone’s life.
Whenever I visit volunteer groups all I can ever do is thank them for their contribution and be grateful that we are fortunate to have these people living in our community.
Volunteers’ Week reminds us that there is more to give to charity than just money.
We can give our time.
If you would like to get involved in volunteering, visit the Charity Commission’s website: volunteersweek.org
