As it's Volunteers' Week, what better opportunity than to tell you about a fantastic event Kids Kabin was invited to be part of recently, that celebrated volunteering in all its forms.
The event, one of Connected Voice's regular Voluntary, Community and Social Entreprise (VCSE) sector networking get togethers, involved our Chief Executive Will Benson and other speakers offering insight into different aspects of volunteering.
Laura Lowther of Volunteering Matters brought the Vision for Volunteering – a 10-year collaborative project to revitalise the future for volunteers – to life with the help of a group activity.
Darren Cheek of Damn Cheek spoke about volunteering and the arts, as well as working with neurodivergent people, and Alex Fearon, of Maybe Later presented on supporting VCSE organisations in Newcastle and Gateshead with volunteers from skilled and professional backgrounds.
Will, who spoke about youth volunteering and engagement, as well as the huge benefits organisations get from having young volunteers, said: "There were common themes through all the different talks, such as being clear about what people want to get from volunteering, like gaining new skills, confidence or offering support to communities in need, as well as the importance of being flexible and adapting models to the different needs of individual volunteers.
"There were some very productive and fruitful discussions, which are continuing, and we started to explore how we might find professional volunteers to help with specific needs we have at the moment – an environmental audit on our Walker building for example.
"It was a really fantastic event to be involved in, to highlight the amazing contribution that our young volunteers make to the success of Kids Kabin and the experiences of our members. Kids Kabin benefits hugely from the ideas, energy and passion of youth volunteers, alongside our international and community volunteers, and youth volunteering in community-based organisations like ours can also provide opportunities for growth and responsibility for young people who might be unlikely to get involved in other kinds of volunteering."
If you'd like to know more about volunteering at Kids Kabin, visit kidskabin.org.uk/volunteer – and a massive thank you on behalf of all the staff at Kids Kabin to all of our dedicated volunteers.