Voluntary action that benefits others – how can that not be powerful?

Here at Aston-Mansfield we benefit hugely from the dedicated support of over 60 volunteers who collectively donate over 250 hours a week – that’s about 13,000 hours a year.

That’s powerful.

Together, our volunteers help us create stronger communities in East London. From our Youth and Children volunteers, to our office based roles, to our public facing roles in our charity shop and reception, our volunteers are a key part of the team at Aston-Mansfield and help us to deliver the services we run in Newham and East London.

It goes without saying that we all feel a collective sense of responsibility for the local issues in and around our community in East London. But I’d go as far to argue that this is especially the case for our volunteers, the majority of whom are local to the area.

   

Through contributing to their local community – both the physical location and the relationships within it, – volunteers are helping us create stronger, more resilient communities.

The Minister for Civil Society recently said that he wanted to see a ‘society where everyone has the chance to contribute to their community, and where those communities are self-confident and civically engaged,’ and I believe we’re achieving this in the areas in which we work, not least because of the value of volunteering.

What could be more powerful than local people volunteering for their local charity? Volunteers help us build connections across the community and bring a breadth and depth of knowledge of the area – that applies to volunteers who are born and bred in the borough, to volunteers who have recently moved here or those who are studying here. Each and every person brings their own perspective and understanding of the issues the community is facing to us at Aston-Mansfield, and we certainly couldn’t do nearly as good a job without them.

Our volunteers want to do something meaningful for their community, and through volunteering with us, they are also acknowledging that their local community charity can do something meaningful and worthwhile too.

We have a great number of volunteers, but we’re always looking for more. Can you imagine a community with really high levels of volunteering? Where people are actively engaged and responding to the needs of the community – volunteering, fundraising, donating clothes to our shop, delivering a skills-based workshop? That’s powerful!

 Can you image a community where everyone really believes they can make a difference? Where people are brought together for a common cause?

Volunteering is of a huge benefit to the wider community. Help us create a stronger, resilient and empowered community and volunteer with us!

Visit our volunteer vancany page to get involved!

Kitty Mounstephen – Volunteering development office at Aston-Mansfield.