New website matches volunteers to opportunities in Suffolk
Melanie May | 2 March 2017 | News
A website that matches people in Suffolk who want to volunteer with opportunities in their county has launched this week.
Volunteer Suffolk is a community-driven website that pinpoints volunteering opportunities in the county, supports local organisations and links these to local people.
The site currently has more than 150 volunteering opportunities, added by local organisations and charities and ranging from short-term and one-off roles, to temporary positions and long-term roles. These include a tour guide for local attractions, supporting community events, and assisting with play sessions for children in Suffolk who have suffered from domestic abuse or violence at home.
There are also ‘10-minute volunteer’ opportunities on offer which involve sharing a Facebook post to raise awareness, sourcing a raffle prize or putting up a poster at work. The site also includes volunteering tips, news and volunteers’ stories.
Community Action Suffolk is responsible for the service, which is a product of its Suffolk Volunteering Strategy and was made possible by a steering group of representatives from Suffolk’s public, private and voluntary sectors.
Carolyn Shaw (pictured), volunteering manager at Community Action Suffolk, said:
“People in Suffolk were telling us it was difficult and frustrating to search online for local volunteering opportunities. They found it time-consuming and search results were disappointing. Our research revealed that opportunities to volunteer with Suffolk’s organisations were getting overlooked on larger, national volunteer websites which try to cater for everyone and everything. Volunteer Suffolk will make it easier for people to give their time to the organisations which rely on them.”
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About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.