MP’S praise for volunteers
Recognition for those who help
Lanark and Hamilton East MP Angela Crawley this week praised the efforts of volunteers across the area.
From June 1 to 12, Volunteers Week Scotland will take place as part of a Uk-wide series of events to highlight the invaluable work done by volunteers up and down the country.
Events have taken place in communities as far apart as Shetland and Galashiels.
This year, Volunteers’ Week is running for an extra five days to coincide with the Queen’s Patron’s Lunch on June 12.
Ms Crawley said: “Volunteers not only play a critical role in Lanark and Hamilton East but they play a crucial role across the country.
“I have seen first-hand how important volunteers’ contributions to my constituency have been, be it in the Hamilton foodbank, the Larkhall and District Volunteers Group or in New Beginnings Carluke.
“Each has provided an outstanding service to their respective communities, giving hope and help to those that need it most.
“I’m supporting Volunteers Week Scotland to show my thanks for the tremendous work they do.”
George Thomson, chief executive of Volunteer Scotland, said: “Volunteers’ Week Scotland is a chance to personally thank volunteers for their contribution to our lives, and to celebrate the community building they bring about in many different kinds of activities .
“It’s an opportunity to look around us and see the wide variety of volunteering that people do every day in our communities, and also to think about what we might do ourselves to help.
“We want to encourage more people, from more diverse backgrounds, to volunteer more regularly in ways that are friendly, uplifting and rewarding.”
The latest research tells us that 27 per cent of Scottish adults provided unpaid help to organisations or groups in the last 12 months.
And 75 per cent of them do so for up to 10 hours a week.
These volunteers offer up their skills and time across an enormous range of activities, through which most of us have benefitted in some way.
This year’s focus is on providing an opportunity for beneficiaries to say thank you to their local volunteers. Volunteer Scotland and partners are encouraging anyone that’s benefitted from volunteering to get involved.
Over 2660 emergency packages were handed out to hungry men, women and children by Hamilton District Foodbank in the last year.
The desperate plight of hardpressed families was laid bare when it emerged that 39,625kg of food was donated to the charity.
A total of 2667 three-day emergency food supplies were handed out by the foodbank over the last 12 months.
The figure, for the financial year 2015/16, has risen by 917 on the previous year, when 1750 people were helped. And the statistics also reveal that 850 three-day supplies were provided for children over the last 12 months. Hamilton District Foodbank welcome any new offers of volunteering help.