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THE
Volunteer Centre West Berkshire has helped the district to be
top in the country for volunteering, according to West Berkshire
Council.
Last year the Government set new targets for local authorities
to increase regular participation in volunteering and West
Berkshire Council approached the Newbury-based volunteer centre
for ideas.
A new scheme called i-volunteer was born, to raise awareness
among the local community about the importance of volunteering.
The initiative has now paid off and, at the end of the year, a
government-commissioned independent survey showed West Berkshire
to be the best at volunteering in England, according to the head
of cultural services for West Berkshire Council, David Appleton.
Director of the Volunteer Centre West Berkshire charity, Garry
Poulson, said that he was thrilled by the news and added: “We
have worked very hard at recruitment in this last year. We had a
target to increase volunteering in West Berkshire by three per
cent but we have in fact increased it by six per cent. This is quite unprecedented in the country. This survey
concluded that 33.2 per cent of the population of West Berkshire
are now volunteering in some way.”
The volunteer centre used funds supplied by the West Berkshire
Strategic Partnership to think of various
campaigns to get people interested in volunteering, leading to
the creation of the i-volunteer scheme, and raising awareness of
volunteering within libraries, through outreach work and the
internet.
Mr Poulson said many people did not realise they were actually
volunteers, such as school governors, or people who help coach
sport teams, and he said that the challenge has brought
awareness to volunteering. He added: “It’s been a real team
effort and we are continuing to push on and raise awareness
about volunteering.”
Corporate director of West Berkshire Council, Teresa Bell, said:
“The i-volunteer project has achieved great success over the
last year in raising the profile of volunteering and the number
of people doing voluntary work, which is so valuable to
strengthening local communities. Well done to Volunteer Centre
West Berkshire and the whole team in Bolton Place.”
Article by
Pamela Owen, courtesy of Newbury News
Friday 30th April 2010
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