There will be events held all over New Zealand next week to recognise the invaluable contribution made by volunteers, marking Volunteer Awareness Week which runs from
Sunday 19 June to Saturday 25 June. The Awareness Week is co-ordinated nationally by Volunteering New Zealand.
These events will be also be aimed at encouraging more to take up volunteer roles with the message that every minute they give does count. In today’s fast paced environment, many may believe they cannot contribute because they have little free time. An important message for the week is to encourage these people to offer their time, however much it may be.
Equally those who manage/organise volunteer programmes need to consider how they can be flexible in how and when they involve their volunteers so as to enable everyone – even the busiest – to have the opportunity to volunteer.
Employee volunteering, which is a growing new way to volunteer, will be highlighted during the week with the launch of health and safety guidelines for employee volunteering. This publication produced by Volunteering NZ will be launched at the Nikau Corporate Challenge function being hosted by Volunteer Wellington on Wednesday 22 June.
The theme for Volunteer Awareness Week was inspired by 2011 being the 10th anniversary of the International Year of Volunteers (IYV+10). The UN has called for the showcasing of the diversity, breadth and depth of volunteering worldwide so as to raise the profile of volunteering and mobilise many more volunteers.
Events to mark the week are being organised by many community organisations and other organisations which have volunteer involving activities and services. Volunteer Centres throughout the country will lead organisations for events in their regions.
A number of the events are or will be listed on the Events Calendar on VNZ’s website www.volunteeringnz.org.nz – click on VAW Events in the top right hand corner.
Information about local events may also be available from the regional volunteer centres. A list of their contact details can be found in the Contacts page of the website.
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