HELEN BURTON: New year, new opportunities to volunteer

If you have made New Year resolutions, why not add volunteering to the list? The benefits of volunteering are huge. You will increase your sense of wellbeing, make new friends, learn new skills, gain confidence, improve your CV and also help your community.
By The Newsroom
Published 6th Jan 2017, 12:00 BST
Updated 11th Jan 2017, 03:49 BST
Helen Burton SUS-150709-171138001Helen Burton SUS-150709-171138001
Helen Burton SUS-150709-171138001

We now have a launch date for the Eastbourne Volunteers project, of January 28 at 11am. Come and have some tea and cake with us at 1 The Labyrinth, 7 Mark Lane, Eastbourne, BN21 4RJ and find out how you can be involved, or, if you already run a project in Eastbourne, how we can help you!

The bare bones of our website are almost ready to go, it’s just waiting to have volunteering opportunities added. We already have some really exciting opportunities being offered though. How about helping to produce or star in local short films? Research local women’s history? Keep bees? If you want to lose weight and get fit why not join a project like Pevensey Apiary or Edible Eastbourne and combine the two? Both projects have opportunities for working outside, and Pevensey Apiary has working parties twice a week.

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There are lots of caring opportunities, and if you want a career working with children, children with special needs or the elderly, then we can find you volunteer roles that will help you to gain experience and improve your chances of getting a job. The Eastbourne Volunteers project itself will also need volunteers, and there are opportunities for people with an interest in writing, social media, photography, administration, advertising, data input, research and helping other people to find the right volunteer opportunities. Volunteers will be able to work from our Community Hub in the Labyrinth, from home, or help with drop-ins at other local projects. Perhaps you would just like to come along to one of the weekly coffee mornings we will be holding to chat with other volunteers?

One of the most exciting opportunities at the Eastbourne Volunteers project is for the new Ward Coordinators’ role. We want to establish coordinators in every ward of Eastbourne, and this role will involve finding out what groups are active locally and promoting local clubs, groups and organisations within each ward. There will be a comprehensive training package offered to help you to learn how to use social media, blog, write for local newspapers and create a buzz in your ward about volunteering and getting involved with the community. We want to reduce social isolation, and by promoting activity in each ward we can make sure that everybody knows what is happening locally and what they can get involved with, either as a volunteer or as a participant.

Do email me at [email protected] if you would like to find out more, but by the end of the month all of these opportunities and more will also be on our website at www.eastbournevolunteers.co.uk