Volunteer Scotland have urged charities and voluntary groups to take part in June.
Scottish organisers of the 38th annual Volunteers’ Week have marked one month until the celebration by thanking all volunteers for their contribution to communities.
Volunteers’ Week is an annual campaign, which takes place every year between June 1 and 7, with thousands of charities across the UK holding events to thank their volunteers.
The theme for this year - Thank You Volunteers – encourages everyone to recognise the huge impact that volunteers make across the UK.
Volunteers are always active at the heart of every UK community, even more so over the last few difficult years, so there is no better time than Volunteers’ Week to take a moment to thank volunteers for all they contribute to local communities, the voluntary sector and society.
Alan Stevenson, CEO at Volunteer Scotland, which coordinates Volunteers’ Week in Scotland, said: “Volunteers’ Week is a time to thank every volunteer across the UK. Volunteers improve our society through countless contributions each year and at time of crisis, they make our services more resilient.
“Within every local community, volunteering takes place formally, through the incredible work of organisations and groups but also informally through acts of kindness, between individuals (who are not friends and family). We must recognise the wide spectrum of volunteering.
“As we emerge from the pandemic and return, we should still be mindful of those who’ve been unable to volunteer, or volunteer as regularly, and be especially mindful of those who may still be anxious about resuming. Thank you all, for your volunteering.”
Every year hundreds of events, both online and in-person, take place to celebrate Volunteers’ Week and the huge range of ways in which volunteers give their time.
A wide variety of activities will be happening across the country including The Big Jubilee Lunch, which will celebrate community connections, share volunteering experiences and mark The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee and 70 years of service.
The Volunteers' Week campaign is also part of The Month of Community, a UK-wide campaign led by Eden Project Communities that includes Volunteers’ Week and several other campaigns and causes from across the UK including Loneliness Awareness Week, Carers Week, Thank You Day and more.
This collaborative month aims to encourage everyone to think about and join in with the wide variety of positive activities and initiatives happening in local communities across the UK.
Jeremy Balfour MSP, co-convener of the Scottish Parliament’s Cross-Party Group on Volunteering, said: “Volunteering has always been incredibly important, but the pandemic put a spotlight on the amazing extent to which it can help our communities.
“It has been great to see so many people during the pandemic stepping up and giving of their time and talents to help those around them.
“Volunteers Week provides an excellent opportunity to celebrate all that has been achieved over the last year and thank those who have so generously given of their time. Thank you for all that you do for our communities.”
