VOLUNTEERS TO BE CELEBRATED

Volunteers, who give up their time to help others, are to be celebrated at a special dinner.

The event is taking place at the Interpretation Centre, Cardiff Castle, on Wednesday, June 3, during National Volunteers Week, and will recognise the role that volunteers play in city life.

The event is being organised by the Cardiff Voluntary Sector Compact, a three way partnership between the voluntary sector, Cardiff Council and the local NHS, and will provide an excellent opportunity to say thank you to the many people who give their time for free so others can benefit.

One hundred and fifty people have been invited to the dinner after organisations were asked to nominate volunteers.

A huge cross section of the volunteering community will be represented, including people who work with children, sporting groups, community groups, disability organisations and the homeless.

It is estimated there are up to 125,000 people doing voluntary work in Cardiff and the dinner is a way of saying thank you for their efforts.


The event is free and will start at 6.00pm, with Jason Mohammed hosting the event, with the live music providing the entertainment and a raffle with prizes donated by local businesses.

Attending the evening will be Cardiff Council deputy leader and Older Persons Champion, Judith Woodman.

She said: “There is a great history of volunteering in Cardiff, we have the oldest Volunteering Bureau (est. 1964) in the UK and the City’s history is potted with the exploits of volunteers. For instance volunteers were needed to work with Cardiff Corporation workers to help build the original Ninian Park back in 1910 - an early record of partnership working between the voluntary sector and local authority”.
 
 
“The contribution of volunteers to the city of Cardiff and society as a whole cannot be underestimated. Based on the UK Government’s Bi-annual Citizenship survey, it is now possible for us to estimate the economic value of volunteering in Cardiff and the results are staggering”.

“If you were to multiply the population of Cardiff by the Citizenship survey’s volunteering percentage, then by an average number of volunteering hours, and then by the average hourly rate of pay in Cardiff the annual economic value is over £116 million.”