Volunteers Make a Difference at Fold

With Spring just around the corner (officially, 1 March) now is the perfect time to think about getting involved in volunteering.

John McLean, Fold’s Chief Executive, said, “Fold depends on the generosity of volunteers. Our Board Members, experts from the private and public sector, donate a tremendous amount of time to our work, providing leadership and holding us to account with regard to our performance. He added, “Fold employees from a number of teams benefit from employer supported volunteering opportunities with organisations such as Young Enterprise and both tenants and staff donate time to a range of fundraising activities with our corporate charity partner Alzheimer’s Society. This has included taking part in mobile volunteering opportunities, for example, putting together fundraising packs, takes place in our schemes across Northern Ireland – resulting £44k raised for the charity during the past 14 months. We recognise the health, knowledge and social benefits of volunteering for everyone and encourage everyone to get involved.”

The Volunteering in Northern Ireland Research Report 2016, published today, by DSD includes statistics on levels of volunteering, support for volunteers and reasons for not undertaking volunteering roles.

Key facts include:

· Just under a third (32%) of respondents indicated that they had carried out voluntary work within the past year. · Of those who had volunteered in the previous year, 43% had carried out a fundraising activity, 33% had volunteered for a church or religious organisation and 32% of respondents indicated that they had organised or helped to run a community event. · The most common methods of identifying volunteering roles were from someone already involved in the organisation (43%), by word of mouth (38%), and through a church or religious organisation (32%). · Around two fifths (41%) of respondents who had volunteered in the previous year indicated that a police or Access NI check was carried out. · More than three quarters of respondents (80%) stated that their efforts are recognised/appreciated by the organisation for which they volunteer. · The top three reasons for not volunteering were, ‘I have work commitments’ (35%), ‘I don’t have the time’ (34%) and ‘I have to look after children/the home’ (20%).

To find out more about volunteering in your community visit www.volunteernow.co.uk