Find the 5000 will rediscover a generation of lost volunteers
Project Scotland has launched an eye-catching PR campaign in a bid to get anyone who has volunteered with it over the past decade to get back in touch.
The charity, which arranges for people between the ages of 16 and 30 to learn new skills through a full-time volunteering placement, is celebrating its 10th birthday but has lost track of many of the people it has helped.
It has designed mock wanted posters (like the ones above and below) and launched a social media hashtag to grab the attention of former volunteers.
It is urging them to get in touch via their website, Facebook, and Twitter using #Findthe5000 so that it can fully document the impact of its work.
Paul Reddish, chief executive of Project Scotland, said: “In 10 years we have supported over 5000 young people in Scotland who have given more than three million volunteering hours to 540 charities and not-for-profit organisations.
“We helped them get skills, experience, and confidence, now we want to know where they’ve ended up. We’re already in touch with many of our former volunteers, and know that many have gone onto to get their dream job – it would be fantastic to hear from them all.”
The charity has already managed to get in contact with some volunteers and has found many have gone on to bag their dream job as journalists, photographers, youth workers, animal carers, fundraisers, gardeners, and conservation rangers.
Some have told stories of how volunteering helped them overcome barriers such as mental health problems and a lack of experience.
Erin McNeil, a Project Scotland volunteer in 2014, is one of those, she said: “I was out of work for five years due to a serious incident.
“ProjectScotland took me on and I can honestly say without the experience I wouldn't have had the confidence to return to full-time education or any work place. I gained new skills, made new friends and built back up my self-confidence.”
If you were, or you know someone who was, a Project Scotland volunteer fill in your details at projectscotland.co.uk/volunteers/find-the-5000.
