Brenda Burgess: Praise for those who volunteer
Being the Mayor and having a charity has made me more aware of how many of us rely on charities in one way or another.
There are at least 180,000 charities throughout the country with the majority of 'employees' working voluntarily; so you can see how important it is to become involved with voluntary work, whether it's giving time, money or both.
There are charities who also collect for other charities. The Rotary Club and Lions are two such groups. During the Wedding Week earlier this year, I joined a group from the Gatwick Diamond Rotary Club, collecting around the Manor Royal area. Money collected over the two days, was divided between three charities, one of which was mine - Open House.
I really must thank the Gatwick Diamond Rotary Group for the 200 or so collected during this period. If you go to my blog, www.readmyday.co.uk/brendaburgess you should see a picture and details pertaining to this event.
The Lions collected a considerable amount of money for Open House which has helped to offer much needed rest and relaxation for the stressed customers who use the facilities of Open House. A huge thanks to both the Rotary Club and the Lions.
This week I also found a charity I knew nothing about - United Response who have just celebrated 30 years. Apparently this charity is a national charity who work with people who have learning disabilities. Crawley was one of the first places where the charity started.
People are helped to find work, move into their own home and to live an independent and full social life. I attended the celebrations and met some of the people who use the service. They were lovely warm individuals who welcomed me and encouraged me to join in their game of bingo. They were very pleased for me when I won one of the games.
Now people tend to say that young people are not interested in volunteering. Wrong!
This week I attended the AGM for Outset, a volunteer group in which young people participate willingly. Such youngsters are directed to areas where they are most needed, for example, some gave their time helping children during this summer's reading event at the library.
Apparently, Outset is unique to this area and by offering help to others via young people, they provide the youngsters with opportunities for gaining much needed experience for life skills and future employment.
Well done and thank you to our many volunteers and voluntary organisations.
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Crawley
Saturday 26 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 12 C to 25 C
Wind Speed: 18 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 11 C to 24 C
Wind Speed: 13 mph
Wind direction: East
