Individuals and teams of volunteers from Kent, Medway, Bexley and Bromley will have their hard work and dedication showcased at a new annual event supported by metroSTOR this autumn.
The Kent Volunteering Awards will be staged by the educational charity Inspire Schools and will celebrate all aspects of volunteering in the county. The event is backed by the Lord Lieutenant of Kent.
The awards will champion employer-assisted volunteering schemes, community volunteering through clubs, youth groups and charities, volunteer carers and those donating their time through the health and education sectors.
With more than a quarter of residents in Kent volunteering each month metroSTOR Communications Manager Simon Dolby said these new annual awards felt a natural event for the company to support.
“Volunteering improves health and wellbeing, boosts career prospects and can open up new friendship groups,” Mr Dolby said. “We are particularly keen to see nominations linked to housing associations, whether it be tenants volunteering to sit on tenant boards and committees, running activities on their estate or an association’s professional staff giving up their time to help the community.”
Nominations can be made by the general public, family members of volunteers or the benefitting clubs, charities, schools or organisations.
Hythe-based metroSTOR, which creates outdoor storage including bin stores, bike and mobility scooter storage, will play a leading role in the event with Mr Dolby chairing the judging panel to select the winners.
Joining the Lord Lieutenant of Kent’s team on the judging panel will be representatives from Kent Police and Crime Commissioner, EKC Group, Kent Community Foundation, Stronger Kent Communities, KM Media Group and Hempstead House hotel.
Nominations can be made until noon on Friday, 18 October at www.kentvolunteeringawards.co.uk
Volunteering fact-file
- Volunteers are most likely to be supporting sports and exercise (43 per cent); social clubs linked to arts and recreation (40 per cent); children’s education (37 per cent); or linked to religion (37 per cent).
- A fifth of volunteers said the volunteering activity helped them lose weight. Half of all volunteers said volunteering made them less depressed and improved their health and wellbeing.
- More than two thirds of employers (68 per cent) believed staff that volunteered added skills to their workforce.