UK Celebrates 40th Anniversary of Volunteers Week (3rd – 9th June 2024)
The MSP for Stirling has publicly thanked the volunteers of Stirling Young Carers Service, three of whom have collectively given over 36 years of their time to the local charity.
The MSP for Stirling lodged a parliamentary motion commending Charlie Perfect, Jen Brown and Robert Cairney for volunteering with Stirling Carers for 20, 10 and 6 years respectively, and paid tribute to all volunteers across Stirling for giving their energy and time to local projects.
The UK celebrates the 40th anniversary of Volunteers Week this year (3rd – 9th June 2024), and Scottish celebrities and organisations have been expressing their deep gratitude for the vital work that volunteers do for community projects and charity services.
As well as a crucial opportunity to thank volunteers and recognise the value of their time, passion and skills, Volunteers’ Week also acts as a chance to inspire others to give volunteering a go.
Cara Barber from Stirling Carers said; “Stirling Young Carers would like to say a huge thank you to all our volunteers. Their long-standing dedication has helped us to provide significant support to our Young Carers who gain massive benefits from the social and emotional support our services provide. I’d like to give a particular shout out for Charlie Perfect who has dedicated 20 years of his life volunteering for us, which is a huge. Thank you so much to them all.”
Evelyn Tweed MSP said; “Volunteers are the bedrock of civil society, without them many vitally important projects and charities would not be able to achieve such incredible milestones . I’d like to extend a special thanks to the efforts of Charlie Perfect, Jen Brown, Robert Cairney, Aaron Hunter and Rachel Kidd who have dedicated their time and energy to the fantastic work that Stirling Young Carers Service does supporting young people who are caring for others.
“Volunteering makes a crucial contribution to building social capital, binding people together and making our communities better places to live and work. A massive thank you to all our volunteers, your hard work and dedication is hugely appreciated.”
Ends
Notes to editors:
- Volunteers’ Week is an annual campaign, which now takes place every year from the first Monday in June. The Volunteers’ Week campaign started in 1984.
- To find out more about volunteering in Scotland visit www.volunteerscotland.net
- To track Volunteers’ Week activity on social media search for #VolunteersWeekScot
Scotland Volunteering Stats (Scottish Household Survey 2022)
- The total adult volunteering participation rate in Scotland is 46% (two percentage points lower than in 2018).
- The adult formal volunteering participation rate was 22% in 2022 and informal volunteering participation rates are 36%.
- The most common type of formal volunteering was in support of local community or neighbourhood groups, involving 27% of volunteers.
- All types of informal volunteering activities experienced increases. Notably, there was a significant 42% increase in “Keeping in touch with someone who is at risk of being lonely,” rising from 18% in 2018 to 60% in 2022. Additionally, there was a notable 30% increase in “Doing shopping, collecting pensions, collecting benefits, or paying bills,” which grew from 12% in 2018 to 42% in 2022.
Parliamentary Motion Text:
That the Parliament congratulates the hard work and dedication of the volunteers at Stirling Young Carers Service, who have volunteered significant amounts of their time to help and support young carers; commends in particular the incredible work and dedication of Charlie Perfect, who has been volunteering with Stirling Carers for 20 years, Jen Brown, who has volunteered for 10 years, and Robert Cairney, who has volunteered for six years, as well as their colleagues Aaron Hunter and Rachel Kidd, who have also donated their time to Stirling Carers; acknowledges the invaluable contribution that volunteers such as Charlie, Jen, Robert, Aaron and Rachel have made in helping Stirling Young Carers Service to run its services, which it considers provide vital social and emotional support to young carers; further acknowledges the important work that Stirling Young Carers Service is doing, with the help of its volunteers, to break down barriers and improve the lives of young carers in rural communities; understands that Stirling Young Carers Service has had a huge impact on the community, supporting over 150 young carers, 59 of whom are in rural groups and 29 of whom receive one-to-one support to help them manage stress, and pays tribute to the many volunteers across Stirling, and indeed Scotland, who give up their own time and energy to support charities, voluntary groups and social organisations, while also inspiring other people to try out volunteering for themselves.
