National Volunteers Week 2024

National Volunteers Week 2024

Hi Everyone!

As its Volunteer Week I wanted to write a few words about the importance of volunteering, not just for the volunteers themselves but to us as an organisation.

Volunteers Week is a chance to recognise, celebrate and thank the UK’s incredible volunteers for all they contribute to our local communities, the voluntary sector, and society as a whole.

So, a massive thank you to all of our dedicated volunteers at the Inspire North group.  I really appreciate you, and to Amy Faulkner-Gadd our Volunteer Development Manager and our Volunteer Co-ordinators, for supporting them to do such a great job.

We are committed to providing meaningful volunteering opportunities that benefit both our clients and the volunteers.  Let’s not forget that giving back is one of the five ways to wellbeing, so is something to be encouraged, valued and celebrated.

From a volunteer perspective we can help you to:

-gain new skills and knowledge
-gain experience working in the health and social care sector amongst others
-get access to over 60 different free training courses
-boost your confidence and meet new people
-get involved in fun and rewarding activities.

Volunteering experience can be a real advantage when job hunting and we can also provide a reference where appropriate.  This point is not lost on me, and I am sure that the volunteering I undertook many moons ago was instrumental in enabling me to enter the workplace in a meaningful way after a brief period of unemployment following finishing my degree.  I volunteered in a neighbourhood advice centre, that is a long time ago, and undertook some free training courses in welfare rights and bookkeeping.  All of which were hugely useful for my first role in a Women’s Aid refuge.

We are committed as an organisation not to replace paid roles with volunteers but to provide those opportunities that add value to our service offer and are focussed in their remit.  We can be flexible in ensuring that our volunteer opportunities are attractive to those who are giving freely of their time to make a difference.

Not forgetting of course that all of our Board of Trustees are also volunteers and we would be lost without them, so a huge thank you to our Trustees who provide such great support and appropriate challenge, you make me better as a CEO and our organisation better as a result of your input.

Happy Volunteering Week 2024

Ruth Kettle, CEO of Inspire North.

To learn more about volunteering at Inspire North you can visit our Volunteers Page.