Volunteers’ Week is an annual UK-wide campaign held from 1^st – 7^th June to celebrate and recognise the contributions of volunteers.  This initiative was launched in 1984 and has been running for over 40 years, providing organisations and communities a platform to thank current and past volunteers for their invaluable efforts.

Local independent charity Age UK Northamptonshire always joins in enthusiastically with the national celebration of all things volunteering.  Its 303 regular volunteers and students on placement give a total of over a thousand hours of their spare time every week.  Seventy-five per cent of those hours are made up of volunteers helping in one of the charity’s eleven shops in the county.

Age UK Northamptonshire’s Volunteers Manager Caroline Baines says: “I extend my heartfelt thanks to all our dedicated volunteers and students on placement.  You make a meaningful difference to the lives of older people in our community every single day.  We are incredibly grateful for the energy, kindness and enthusiasm you bring to the charity.”

Whether they’re a telephone befriender making that weekly friendly call or sorting donations and steaming clothing in a charity shop, or perhaps serving tea and biscuits in a day centre, the contribution of all its hardworking volunteers is vital to Age UK Northamptonshire.

Riley Young aged nineteen [pictured] would definitely recommend volunteering.  “I have been volunteering in the Burton Latimer charity shop for a few months.  I love talking to people and have been trained in how to use the till,” he says.  He is also pretty good at creating enticing displays of the merchandise.

For more information contact Age UK Northamptonshire on 01604 611200 or visit www.ageuknorthants.org.uk