Volunteers Week

Volunteers’ Week is an annual celebration of the fantastic contribution millions of volunteers make across the UK – and it’s taking place from the 1-7 June 2013.

This year’s Volunteers’ Week focuses on saying ‘Thank You’ to the millions of volunteers who regularly contribute to society, and to recognise the way that organisations celebrate the work of volunteers across the UK.


The contribution of volunteering

Every year, over 20 million people across England and the UK volunteer, donating more than 100 million hours to their communities every week. It has been estimated that the economic value of this activity is worth in excess of £40 billion to our economy. Services and initiatives that are vital to the running of our country simply wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for volunteers. This includes the NHS, the Coastguard Rescue Service (3,500 volunteers), the Mountain and Cave Rescue Service (3,500 volunteers in England and Wales), Natural England (2,200 volunteer wardens), the judiciary (30,000 volunteer magistrates in England and Wales) and the police(over 15,000 Special Constables).

Volunteering and community cohesion

But volunteering has an even greater value than ensuring our essential community services function and national events are a success. Every year, millions of people help others in all sorts of ways, most of which they probably wouldn't even think of as volunteering. This makes a crucial contribution to binding our communities, building cooperation and trust between individuals, and helping to make our communities better places to live and work.

For more information visit volunteersweek.org

Chippenham Hospital Radio

Did you know Chippenham Hospital Radio is operated entirely by volunteers and we’re always in need of people to help out, whether it’s presenting a programme, visiting patients on the wards or helping with admin why not contact us and find out how you can get involved?

Call us on 01249 456419 or e-mail studio@chippenhamhospitalradio.com