Giving your time to help others

People of all ages are helping within their communities, whether it be shopping for an elderly neighbour, taking part in youth work or improving the environment.

Volunteering can open doors, both for those on the receiving end, and for the volunteers themselves, who can further their own career prospects through placements.

Across the UK, Bradford is at the forefront of volunteering, with recent surveys revealing that more than a quarter – 28.5 per cent – of the population are actively involved, four per cent above the national average, and more than any other Yorkshire city.

The Shipley-based charity Volunteering Bradford is leading a scheme to provide volunteering opportunities for people of all ages.

Over the past year it helped more than 3,000 people take up opportunities with more than 300 organisations – a 60 per cent increase on the previous year.

Young people are engaged through the National Young Volunteers Service, V Involved, which introduces young people aged 16 to 25 to volunteering, often for the first time, and provides an accredited qualification.

And, in a separate scheme launched last August by the Department of Work and Pensions, unemployed people aged 25 and over have been referred to the service through the three Bradford Jobcentres. This aims to provide 34,000 volunteering placements in the UK over the next two years.

Now the number benefiting is set to rise. Today, V Involved is being extended to include school-age youngsters aged from 14, and the scheme supporting the unemployed is also to have a lower qualifying age of 18.

“We are expecting an increase in numbers,” says Volunteering Bradford director Dave Forrest. “We are recruiting an extra staff member to help.”

Volunteers signing up to the service – which was established 20 years ago – could find themselves on one of 950 different placements at charities including Forest of Bradford, Age Concern, Oxfam and St Johns Ambulance.

“We have just carried out a tree-planting session at Hainworth Wood Community Centre in Keighley,” says Dave, “And we have been doing a lot of work with pupils from Ilkley Grammar School, involving volunteering with local organisations, particularly those caring for the elderly.”

This work is part of a wider project in which the service has been working with Keighley and Ilkley Voluntary Action.

Volunteering Bradford also works with Bradford Community Broadcasting – one of two organisations at which Dave himself is a volunteer. “We recently held a DJ day at BCB as one of a series of taster activities to try to engage young people in different ways,” he says.

“Volunteering provides a fantastic opportunity to develop skills, fill in gaps on a CV and provide up-to-date references. Community organisations benefit greatly, too, from having additional support.”

Of those who have been placed as volunteers, many have gained a nationally-recognised qualification. “That is really helpful when they apply for a job or a place at college,” says Dave.

Student Matthew Bailey, 17, is a member of the V Involved project’s Youth Action Team which is helping to establish the Shipley Youth Cafe. “Volunteering is great,” he says. “I got a nationally-recognised certificate which helps my CV and shows that I don’t just sit about in my spare time.”

Time given can be as little as an hour a week, or two hours a month. “We try to keep it accessible and fun,” says Dave.

The service is involved in fundraising work, attending charity events in Bradford such as those held recently by Sports Relief and Epilepsy Action.

“We work with members of the University of Bradford’s UCAN volunteering project,” says Dave.

Next year, the service – which is also supported by Bradford Council – is planning celebrations to mark the European Union Year of Volunteering, and in the run-up to the Olympics in 2012 it is hoped that more than 20,000 volunteers will take part in Olympic-inspired opportunities in sport.

To contact Volunteering Bradford, ring (01274) 588233, or visit volunteeringbradford.org.