Chester Voluntary Action are holding a volunteer fair this Friday 3rd June as part of Volunteers week which starts on the 1st June. Taking place in Grosvenor Park from 11-2 ” the fair entitled “Roots” will also feature an art exhibition and host 30 charities and not for profit groups.
Dee Gunning, volunteer development worker says that the fair will be a celebration of volunteering with a “huge mix” of groups present which will give people an opportunity to find out what is going on in the area, the services provided by the various organisations and how they can get involved.
Potential volunteers can either visit the fair, or call into the Volunteer Centre which is now inside the Bluecoat School on Northgate street.
“We have about 300 different opportunities , none of them are in charity shops. There is so much more than that! ” says Dee. ” You could want to do support work with younger people, or older people. You could train to do advocacy work, there’s work with hospices or the neuro muscular centre, might be different disabilities, or environmental groups. All kinds of things!”
“The great thing about volunteering is, its good if you’re looking for a career change, its good if you’re out of work but you want to give your skills a boost. Its good for young people who are expected to know what they want to do from the age of 16, its a good “try before you buy” for them. It opens up your network to other people, gets you out of your comfort zone and can expose you to lots of different things.
“We see between 800-1500 people a year to discuss volunteering options. Even people that work full time can get involved in volunteering, during evenings and weekends. One year half of the people that we saw, fell within the ages of 25 and under. The landscaping of volunteering has changed and a lot of older people have had to take on childcare for their grandkids and they don’t have time. A whole range of people volunteer.”
The Roots Volunteer fair takes place Friday 3rd June at the Grosvenor Park activity centre
The Chester blog 