Volunteers' Week 08

Celebrating Volunteers’ Week – 1 –7 June 2008

Events

This year Community Links Bromley started the week off by hosting a display in the Glades Shopping Centre on Sunday 1st June. 12 different volunteering involving organisations joined us, taking the opportunity to raise the profile of volunteering within their own organisation. We would like to thank the Glades for providing us with the space to set up our display.

Displays

Throughout the week we were granted permission by Bromley Library to have a display in the library in order to raise the profile of volunteering throughout the Borough.

Award Ceremony

James Banks, Chair of Greater London Volunteering opened the award ceremony with a talk about volunteering and the benefits it provides to the individual as well as society as a whole.

He pointed out that over and above the obvious personal benefits to an individual "70 per cent of employers report that they would give a job to someone with volunteering experience over someone who had never been involved." Volunteering contributes the equivalent of over "25 billion pounds to our sector each year and whilst much publicity centres on the activities of larger charitable organisations 72 per cent of VCOs do not employ any staff, and are instead reliant on the goodwill and support of volunteers."

Our ceremony was about recognition of the work of individuals providing exceptional service as volunteers and recognition of the management skills of volunteer managers. The winners were as follows;

Emma Miles – Give2Give
Claire Griffiths– Bromley Met Police
Francis Raftery – Bexley & Bromley Advocacy
Maureen Minnell– Bromley Mind
Peter Baker – St Cecilia’s
Shirley Ann Homewood – Older People’s Network Penge & Anerley
Philip Gray – Icare
Neil Walker – Biggin Hill Community Care
Sonja Arthur – Bromley Mytime
Lisa Abel – Southborough Primary School
John Lawson – Southborough Primary School
Chris Sands – Royal British Legion
Sylvia Rowbottom – Acorn Parenting Group
Erica Manthorpe – 23rd Bromley Scouts
Molly McFadyen – Petts Wood Playgroup
Margaret O’Prey – Petts Wood Playgroup
Claire Grochocki– Kent Association for the Blind

Recipients of the manager's awards were:

Jenny Baulkwill – St Christopher’s Hospice
Carol Courtney – Save the Children
Giles Barnett – Bromley Scout District
Ewa Prokop – Countryside Rangers

The Ceremony was attended by around 80 people who were entertained with dancing by the Bromley Asian Cultural Association and Orpington Chinese Cultural Association. A very big thank you to all the dancers.

We would also like to thank Cllr Hubbard and Christine Hellicar who joined the panel to select those who were receive Awards from a considerable list of nominations. It was a very difficult task as the calibre of nominations was so high. And finally we thank James Banks for giving his time. For photographs from all of the events follow this link to our photodiary.

Page updated: 22 September 2008