Around 100 members of Bath & North East Somerset Council staff will be volunteering with community groups and charities during the first two weeks of June.
This is part of this year’s Community Challenge event, organised to coincide with National Volunteers week (1st – 7th June).
This is a partnership between the Council, The Volunteer Centre Bath and Beyond, the student unions at the University of Bath and Bath Spa University, and local businesses Withy King, Unite, Waitrose and BMT Isis.
Around 200 volunteers from across these organisations will be getting involved in over 20 different community projects across the area including:
- Completing a garden make-over at St Martin’s Hospital, Bath, on Wednesday 3rd June. Work to the garden, used by the hospital’s Dementia Ward, took place during Volunteer Week last year and has proven to be a real success. Council staff are returning to complete the garden make-over by creating a new tranquil space for patients; they will be supported by the Chairman of the Council, Cllr Ian Gilchrist.
- Helping Chelwood Rotary Club pack international emergency aid boxes as part of their World Water Survival box scheme. These will be sent out to Nepal to help people who have been affected by the earthquake.
- Supporting residents from the Leonard Cheshire Home in Timsbury at their regular fishing activity at Tucking Mill fishing lake om 11th June. Run by Wessex Water, the lake is fully accessible enabling anglers who are wheelchair users to enjoy fishing.
Bath & North East Somerset Council’s Cabinet Member for Community Services, Cllr Martin Veal (Conservative, Bathavon North), said: “Volunteering is an important way of contributing to our communities and it’s also a great way for us to develop relationships with local organisations.
“Having been involved in a number of activities last year I have experienced first-hand how much can been achieved in one day through this collective effort.”
Mike Plows, the manager at the Volunteer Centre Bath and Beyond, said: “The involvement of local businesses is extremely valuable to local charities and organisations.
“In the past we have found that the initial contact made during the Challenge weeks help foster longer term relationships between the organisations.
“Supporting the local community isn’t just about giving money, your time and resources can be equally valuable.”
To find out more about volunteering opportunities in the area, visit www.vol-centre.org.uk, tel 01225 338105
