Celebrating a summer of volunteering
I love this photo. It looks simple, but behind it lies thousands of hours of amazing work local volunteers and groups do organising events and activities during the summer. One photo can’t represent the sheer scale of the importance of volunteers but here’s to celebrating them all.
During the summer holidays, many children and families have enjoyed free and low-cost activities organised by local charities and volunteers across the district. From Beach Week at Ripon Walled Garden to games at The Kingfisher Kiosk @ Conyngham Hall, from Ripon Together’s Summer Fun Fest to Family Fun Day at The Village in Harrogate, musical instrument taster sessions to football tournaments. There are many more, making sure that everyone can make fun family holiday memories.
Local libraries are vital in our communities and couldn’t offer such wonderful life affirming and motivational activities for young people without our fabulous volunteers. The Summer Reading Challenge stands out, as do the free activities from bug hunting to junk modelling and poetry workshops. Thank you for making it possible to engage our children in such high quality and valuable activities.
But it’s not just young families in summer who can enjoy these opportunities. All year round, thanks to the dedication of volunteers, the local calendar is busy with community activities for people of all ages.
Fabulous larger events, such as Knaresborough’s feva festival and Ripon’s St Wilfrid’s Day Procession, and annual village shows such as Weeton, Tockwith and Birstwith Shows are all made possible by the generosity of volunteers.
The hard work of volunteers can start long before an event. They are involved in securing venues, reaching out to businesses for sponsorship or donations, creating promotional materials, posting on social media, recruiting more volunteers, planning to ensure that everything runs smoothly and safely. Their resilience, commitment, and creativity turn ideas into reality.
The day of the event can be a long day for volunteers, from setting up to clearing away and quite often having to handle unexpected challenges with patience and dedication.
Volunteers include students keen to gain experience, parents who want to support family-friendly activities, retired people looking to stay active, or professionals offering expertise in areas like finance, marketing or health and safety.
Again, a massive thank you to all the volunteers who are making our Harrogate district a better and more engaged place every day of the year. They deserve our full support and recognition.
If you would like the chance to volunteer at a variety of one-off events with different charities without needing to make any regular commitment, then why not take a look at joining our Help Out crew? Volunteering roles are varied, from marshalling at outdoor events to pulling pints at a charity beer festival, helping with sports events, or getting involved in conservation tasks. No two opportunities are the same!
Whatever your interests, availability or skills there are opportunities to help out. Visit our website www.hadca.org.uk for more ideas and inspiration.