Last week Downham Market welcomed its newest community group, Downham Volunteers, the launch of which was timed to coincide with National Volunteers’ Week.
This new, not-for-profit organisation aims to inspire, recruit and co-ordinate a group of town residents, encouraging and harnessing the power of positive community spirit and focusing attention and action on worthy local projects.
The group intends to help out with both one-off and more regular volunteering opportunities. This will make it perfect for the many people who would like to get involved and have a positive input into their community, but might not have the time to make a regular commitment.
One of the very first projects, that Downham Volunteers will be involved in, will be the ‘Downham Market in Bloom 2013 – Big Clean Up’.
This ‘day of action’ takes place on Sunday 7th July. To register your interest sign up now on our Downham Volunteers page.
Aiming to bring members of the community of all ages and experiences together to build a network of volunteers, the scheme, approved by Downham Market Town Council, but privately funded, hopes to develop new relationships and help others to help themselves by taking on new responsibilities, learning new skills, having fun and revelling in moments of success.
Once registered with the scheme, members receive information about individual projects, and then it is at the member’s discretion whether they would like to participate or not. There is no commitment in joining Downham Volunteers.
Downham Volunteers founder, Liz Pendleton said: “By raising awareness of local issues, and thinking in new ways, we can create and share opportunities to come together as neighbours, show we care about our town and to benefit each other as well as ourselves.”
“We all need to take responsibility for improving our own environment – it is not ‘someone else’s problem’. Helping is fun, and can be for as little as one hour, anyone can join, the only requirement is that you want to, and we just hope that you do!”.
Find out more and sign up on our Downham Volunteers page.
