Government launches volunteer drive
Gordon Brown and Charles Clarke have called on more Britons to volunteer in their communities.
Launching the Year of the Volunteer 2005, the Chancellor and Home Secretary officially switched on a new website that provides people with information on how to volunteer in their local area.
The year-long campaign aims to both praise the work of volunteers across the country and encourage more people to get involved. It aims to increase opportunities for volunteering and to encourage more members of the public, especially young people and those from marginalised communities, to devote some of their time to their community.
Community Service Volunteers (CSV) and Volunteering England have each been awarded around £1 million from the Home Office for the year.
“Personal volunteering builds up confidence and skills, raises self-esteem and self-worth,” Mr Clarke said. “It strengthens communities and helps people learn and care about the wider society and democracy of which they are a part.”
Volunteers Week will take place in June and Make a Difference Day in October and the Year of the Volunteer will also see each month themed to focus on volunteering in a particular area, with January centred on the health sector.
Volunteering is worth an estimated £22.6 billion a year to the UK economy. More than 26 million people in England and Wales contributed 1.9 billion hours of voluntary activity in 2003.
