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Today, 5th December, is International Volunteer Day.
Volunteers are at the heart of many National Lottery funded projects. Every day, thousands of people choose to share their time and skills by volunteering. Together, they help their community thrive.
We’re celebrating the amazing work volunteers do across Northern Ireland by hearing from grant holders Recharge CIC and County Antrim Countryside Custodians. They are sharing the amazing work their volunteers do – and what the volunteers get back in return.
Recharge CIC
Julie Humphries at Recharge CIC told us more about their work.
Our organisation gives carers time and space for themselves, separate from their caring responsibilities. We received a grant of £96,189 to run a series of retreats for carers. These offer a whole day dedicated to self-care and their own wellbeing.
Most of our volunteers have personal experience of being unpaid carers. They are often hard-pressed themselves, but they know what it’s like. So they want to support other carers. It is a unique element of what we do and we’re very proud of it.
Our volunteers are amazing. They offer their time, but also expertise from their own lived experience of caring. From October 2021 to October 2022 we ran 122 workshops, courses, retreats and events. Volunteers were there to help at every single one.
They help identify hidden carers in the community to support them to join our programmes. They help plan, design and facilitate activities. Our volunteers have also taken the lead with pilot programmes for some new initiatives. They have sole responsibility, so there’s a great sense of ownership and pride.
We offer our volunteers training to give them something in return. Some volunteers have even been able to gain qualifications or set up their own micro businesses. Plus they can use their new skills to deliver sessions for our programmes. And past volunteers have used their experience as a platform into further education or employment. It makes a great talking point for an interview!
We recently won Outstanding Voluntary Team at the 2022 Social Enterprise NI Awards. The award means so much. It’s a recognition of the huge contribution unpaid carers make to society. They are largely invisible, working away on the margins. But this put the whole notion of valuing carers front and centre on awards night. It is some achievement.
County Antrim Countryside Custodians
Katherine McAdam told us how County Antrim Countryside Custodians put a small grant of National Lottery funding to good use in their community.
We received an £8,250 Awards for All grant to organise monthly litter picking events. Our events get communities involved in litter picking, and share ways we can work together to protect the environment.
On average our volunteers collect 400 bags of litter a month. Since we began in 2019 we have lifted over 9000 bags of litter.
Our project is 100% volunteer led. From litter picking, to delivering educational talks, arranging events and taking part in events in the wider community.
Our volunteers love the group and we love them! There is no way to fully put into words the appreciation that we feel for our volunteers or the positive can-do attitude within the group.
Volunteers get a sense of purpose and ownership of the work they carry out. We see lots of friendships forming too, and improvements to physical and mental health – especially for those who have felt isolated. They now feel part of a larger community in a safe and positive setting.
One gentleman told me that before finding the group he felt depressed and alone, because he felt that no one cared. But being part of the group had given hope again. He no longer felt alone and could see the good work being done to help our environment by the members.
Being able to run community events with the support of The National Lottery Community Fund has allowed us to take our message further. We are seeing a shift towards the more environmental route because of the educational value of these events. We are so very grateful and look forward to continuing to show how everyone can make a difference.
If you have time or skills to share, there are always organisations looking for new volunteers. Need some inspiration? Why not start by looking at groups funded by The National Lottery Community Fund.
Find out more about our funding programmes in Northern Ireland.
The National Lottery Community Fund Northern Ireland 