Islanders are being invited to celebrate the hard work of volunteers this Volunteer’s Week. The celebration starts on the first Monday in June every year and is a chance to recognise, celebrate and thank the Island’s incredible volunteers for all they contribute to our local communities, the voluntary sector, and society as a whole. From open days to celebration events, every year hundreds of online and in-person activities take place across the UK to mark Volunteers’ Week and celebrate volunteers. Volunteers’ Week was first established in 1984, by what was then known as Volunteering England. This year sees the celebration of the 40th anniversary of Volunteers Week, from Monday 3rd to Sunday 9th June. The IW Volunteer Centre, run by Community Action IW, endeavours to promote volunteering, encourage good practice and bring together those who want to volunteer with those organisations looking for volunteers. This is done primarily through their website www.iwvolunteer.org and a number of volunteer fairs throughout the year. The next fair coming up will focus on sports and leisure activities. A spokesperson from Community Action Isle of Wight:
“On Saturday 1st June, we will be at Newport Minster together with a sports clubs and other organisations who work to bring the community together through sport and movement. Many of these groups rely entirely on volunteers and their willingness to give up time and support others.”
If you would like to listen to the experiences of existing volunteers, search your Podcast provider for Isle of Wight Volunteer Stories, where you will find a collection of interviews with Island residents who do a range of volunteer roles from pulling Himalayan balsam with Natural Enterprise, to supporting events with the Red Cross, to being a surf mentor with the Wave Project or puppy fosterer with Ability Dogs For Young People.
National Trust should be ashamed of themselves by making voluntary people wear the rainbow lanyards.
98% of people are not rainbows, they should remember that.
You should be ashamed of yourself attacking people that want to support personal freedoms and supporting the people that wish to live their life their way without interference from the state or religious groups.
Cheer up John. They are wearing these lanyards to show support not as labels distinguishing sexual preferences. The National Trust supports inclusivity and that can only be a good thing. Try it yourself and you might cheer up.
They have a choice of lanyards.
Are you saying they should not be offered the choice because their choice of lanyard might offend the tiny minority of people (like you) who are offended by such things.
They offend the 98% have a butchers at the statistics.
Fred, I’m all for people having a choice, but I and others have no choice seeing it rammed in our faces day in and day out and taught and pushed in schools.
Take a look at your Facebook feed and it’s like a skittles, you can actually taste the rainbow.
Nobody forces you to watch. Do something else instead.
There seems some confusion over whether wearing these lanyards is compulsory or not ? The whole “rainbow” thing represents a political perspective, and therefore wearing it should be a matter of choice. If people want to support that cause, that’s great, if not……… We’re still all ok with freedom of conscience, I assume ?
Aren’t they wearing them in support of the NHS, same as everyone put images of rainbows in their windows during the covid-19 pandemic?