Hello all,
We’re only a couple of weeks away from Christmas, and 2016 is ready to make way for 2017.
Just a couple of weeks ago, it was International Volunteer’s Day (IVD). The event takes place every year on December 5th and is viewed as an opportunity for volunteers and organisations to share their values, and to promote their work among their communities.
Seeing International Volunteer’s Day made me pause for a second and think about all the great work that Volunteer Centre Manchester (VCM) and the Volunteers we support have put into 2016. It’s no secret that volunteers work tirelessly to help improve their communities and the people they come in to contact with, and many of the organisations that volunteers help out simply wouldn’t be able to function without your help.
Having a look back over 2016, VCM have been involved with some great people and great pieces of work, and it is important that we recognise this. Some of the highlights for VCM included the introduction of our very own volunteers into our centre. Currently we have Carlos and Anisa that are giving us their time, and earlier in the year we also had Stefania. All of them have been fantastic and we’d like to thank them all for their great work and input.
Other projects in 2016 included ‘Volunteers Week’ which took place in June. VCM organised a Volunteer Fair at Manchester Central Library to coincide with the event and it was great bringing volunteers and organisations together.
‘Volunteer Voices’ is another project, and we did this by talking with volunteers and volunteer coordinators to find out what makes them tick, why they get involved and what advice they can give. We record and share their stories on our YouTube Channel, which you can see here https://www.youtube.com/user/maccmanchester look out for more in 2017.
We also had the Spirit of Manchester Awards and Festival (Organised and delivered by Macc) in October. Spirit of Manchester highlights the magnificent work being carried out in Manchester’s Voluntary and Community sector and it was great to be part of such a fantastic event.
And most recently, we started our new radio show on North Manchester FM 106.6 to bring news and views from the sector to the residents of Manchester!
It can be quite easy to get wrapped up (excuse the Christmas pun!) in the work you do and forget about, or at least not value the great work you do and the difference you make to so many people’s lives. So, here at Volunteer centre we have taken a moment to give ourselves a ‘pat on the back’ and we hope that you do the same. Giving up your time to help others or running an organisation to serve the community can be hard work, celebrate it!
See you in 2017!
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
P.s.
If you would like to contact the Volunteer Centre please email us on [email protected] or give us a ring on 0161 830 4770.