Volunteers in spotlight

Jun 1 2009 by Karen McLauchlan, Evening Gazette

CHAMPION volunteers in Redcar and Cleveland will be honoured at a special event on Friday.

Redcar and Cleveland Voluntary Development Agency - RCVDA - will be celebrating 25 years of volunteer recruitment at this year’s Volunteer Awards Presentation at Gisborough Hall.

More than 200 volunteers are set to attend the event where over 400 certificates and 10 special awards will be presented.

The event is taking place during a week when volunteering is firmly in the spotlight.

Volunteers’ Week runs from today to Sunday and is this year celebrating its 25th anniversary.

The week-long event aims to raising the profile of the millions of volunteers who regularly contribute to society, while inspiring others to get involved.

The Evening Gazette launched its Year Of The Volunteer initiative in January as part of the Tees Pride campaign.

It aims to encourage more people across the Tees Valley to put something back into their community.

Trish Waters, volunteer officer for RCVDA, said: “All volunteers are winners and at this wonderful annual celebration we acknowledge the tireless and inspiring work they do.”

The event is supported by members of the Redcar and Cleveland Partnership and takes place from 1-4pm.

More than 22 million people are involved in volunteering in the UK every year. Volunteers’ Week is co-ordinated by Volunteering England.

For more information on how to get involved with Volunteers’ Week 2007 go to www.volunteersweek.org.uk

Year Of The Volunteer is looking to highlight the great work under way in the voluntary sector.

Find out more at gazettelive.co.uk/teespride