Cheshire West Voluntary Action’s (CWVA) ongoing volunteering campaign will look at equality, diversity and inclusion throughout 2022.
The volunteering campaign is now running for a third year, encouraging more people to take up volunteering and calling on organisations to offer a wider range of opportunities.
In 2021, the key themes of the campaign were climate, mental health and poverty in line with some of Cheshire West and Chester Council’s priorities for the borough. It was a real success, helping organisations advertise around 150 new opportunities through CWVA’s volunteering platform and many of these were recruited to.
With the campaign aiming to bust some of the myths around volunteering and highlight there are opportunities for everyone, it will focus on equality, diversity and inclusion in 2022.
Not only will the campaign showcase the opportunities available, no matter what your background or skillset is, but it will also guide organisations to think about how they can make their opportunities more inclusive.
Dee Gunning, Volunteering Development Officer, said: “We’ve seen throughout the COVID-19 pandemic the importance of making your volunteering opportunities accessible.
“Many people have been volunteering from home, being a good neighbour or microvolunteering, giving up the amount of time that suits them and their other commitments.
“As we move forward, it’s important we continue making volunteering accessible to everyone so we don’t lose those who’ve supported their community during the pandemic.
“There are often misconceptions about volunteering as many people still think it’s working at a charity one-day-a-week. The fact is there’s plenty of opportunities to volunteer and people sometimes don’t even realise their giving up their time as a volunteer.
“We’d like as many people and organisations as possible to get involved with our campaign once again in 2022 as it’s an opportunity for you to showcase all the great things about volunteering in the community.”
You can add your volunteering opportunity, or apply for one of them, on CWVA’s volunteering platform.
CWVA is looking for members and their volunteers to share their stories as part of the campaign. If you’d like to get involved, please email: ryan.gould@chesterva.org.uk.
A communication pack has also been produced by CWVA to help members advertise their own volunteering opportunities.
As part of the campaign, CWVA is working with members, their volunteers and people they support to coproduce resources that will help organisations make their volunteering opportunities more inclusive. For more information, please email: dee.gunning@chesterva.org.uk.
