During the forthcoming week, the dumfries and Galloway council will be giving praise and recognition to the hundreds of volunteers that help our council to deliver services in our communities every day.
From marshalling at events, helping to look after flower beds in your local area, helping to cut the grass, being part of your community council or school’s parent council, reading stories to children in your local library or looking after the street where you live, there are lots of different ways that individuals give up their time and get involved in helping to provide services in their local area.
As a result of reductions in the council’s budget over the past 10 years, our Council has had to change how it delivers services across the region. The role of our volunteers has been critical to this. Our volunteers have helped to ensure that activities in our towns and villages are still being provided.
Volunteering is one of the most rewarding things you can do. It can help provide new skills and experience or use skills you already have. It is an opportunity to connect with others, make new friends, and to gain confidence through taking on a challenge and building a sense of achievement. Our council recognises the vital role that volunteers make every day.
Throughout Volunteer Week, our council will be celebrating the work of volunteers and the impact they make within their community all year round.
Chair of Communities committee, Cllr Andy Ferguson, said “I want to thank the hundreds of volunteers in all our communities who give up their time to make a difference where they live. Over the past few years, our council is having to work more collaboratively with local communities to deliver services – we can’t do this on our own any longer. We need to recognise the skills that exist in our local communities and harness the enthusiasm that individuals have to help to deliver services in their towns and villages. Volunteer activity is what keeps our region thriving.”
Vice Chair of the committee, John Martin, agreed saying “As a result of COVID-19, thousands of individuals have come forward to help protect the most vulnerable people in our region. When things return to normal, it is our ambition that Volunteering is a legacy of this pandemic. Being a volunteer isn’t unique to the situation we find ourselves in now – there are volunteers that support activities in their communities all year round. We want to embrace the current zeal for volunteering and ensure there are ways for people to remain involved in delivering services in their area.”
Volunteer Week runs from Monday 1 until Sunday 7 June.
