31.03.2022
With the countdown now on to Volunteers’ Week 2022, which runs from 1-7 June, Volunteer Now is calling on communities and businesses across Northern Ireland to get ready to honour local heroes by taking ‘Time to Say Thanks’ as part of a week-long programme of activity celebrating volunteering across the UK.
Now in its 38th year, Volunteers’ Week sees charities, voluntary groups, social organisations, and volunteers themselves come together to recognise the incredible impact that volunteering has in communities, both locally and regionally.
This year’s theme – ‘A time to say thanks’ – encourages everyone to recognise the huge impact that people from all walks of life make on the lives of people and their communities when they volunteer.
The week-long celebration, coinciding with the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, will include designated themed days showcasing the breadth and impact that different types of volunteering has played in local communities over the last 12 months. Each day is a chance to take the time to say thank you to volunteers across Northern Ireland – and Volunteer Now is calling for all charities and volunteers to get involved.
With around 282,000 formal volunteers carrying out work with designated organisations and 470,000 informal volunteers, volunteering plays a significant role across the region.
Each year, volunteers across Northern Ireland carry out work worth more than half a billion pounds and contribute £504 million to the local economy. Voluntary organisations in Northern Ireland do work worth more than half a billion pounds a year.
As the lead organisation for volunteering in Northern Ireland, Volunteer Now is leading the charge to put Volunteers’ Week firmly on the community agenda, encouraging everyone to engage with the week-long programme of activity to say a collective ‘thank you’ to volunteers right across the region.