Unsung heroes get awards for giving up time to help others
Volunteers who give up their time to help others have been honoured.
About 45 volunteers in Portsmouth were given certificates as part of Volunteers' Week, which ends on Sunday, to say thank you for their hard work.
Among those receiving a certificate was 87-year-old Dot Coley, who has been a volunteer at Age Concern for 21 years.
Mrs Coley began volunteering when her husband died and she became ill.
Her doctor suggested that volunteering would help give her something to do and be a way of helping others. And since then she hasn't looked back, working in the day care department of Age Concern in Portsmouth up to six days a week.
Mrs Coley, also a previous We Can Do It winner for Best Volunteer in 1997, turns her hand to almost anything to help elderly people.
She said: 'I never thought that I would be doing it this long but I just love it. I like the company and helping other people. I do all sorts – laundry, bringing tea and coffee and talking to people.'
University of Portsmouth student Aimee Dennis, 22, gives up three hours a week to Home Start, a charity that helps families.
Miss Dennis began helping as part of her social work degree on a six-month placement but enjoyed it so much she decided to carry on.
She said: 'I feel families really need a bit of help every now and then, and I've got the time, so why not help out?'
Events for volunteers this week have included free trips to the Mary Rose, tours around the Kings Theatre, and a dance production performed by King Richard School, Paulsgrove, at the Kings Theatre, Southsea.
Julie Killeen, coordinator of Community First For Portsmouth, which helped organise the events, said: 'We wanted to say to the volunteers "thank you for giving your time". The certificates are a way of showing that volunteers are appreciated.
'Volunteers are not unpaid because they are worthless, but because they are priceless.'
THE HEART OF THE CITY
Community First for Portsmouth has been at the heart of the city for 70 years.
The group, based at 338 Commercial Road, Portsmouth, began in 1939 to lead the development of the voluntary and community sector in the city.
The charitable organisation places groups and charities with volunteers, and has more than 700 volunteers working in the region at the moment.
Since the recession there has been a rise in people wanting to volunteer in the city, and Community First for Portsmouth had about 300 people at the beginning of 2009 wanting to give up their time for free. Many of those people had been made redundant and wanted to continue working while they looked for paid work.
Ian Piper, 48, chief executive of Community First for Portsmouth, said: 'Volunteering can be a stepping stone for people and they are making a contribution to the community.
'Portsmouth could not operate without the volunteers that it has.'
The charity group changed its name in April this year from Portsmouth Council of Social Services.
For more information on Community First for Portsmouth go to: portsmouthccs.org.uk or call: (023) 9282 7110.
>> Vote in our latest web poll.
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Portsmouth
Saturday 04 February 2012
Today
Light snow
Temperature: 2 C to 5 C
Wind Speed: 20 mph
Wind direction: South east
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 2 C to 5 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: North
