Aberdeenshire Voluntary Action News - May 2021
AVA: Aberdeenshire's Third Sector Interface News
AVA: Aberdeenshire's Third Sector Interface News
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8 AVA | <strong>May</strong> <strong>2021</strong><br />
AVA|VolunteeringVolunteering<br />
Lorna Sandison<br />
AVA Development Officer<br />
At AVA we are working a bit differently<br />
these days with our Development<br />
Officers now working within specialist<br />
themes. As AVA’s Volunteering Specialist, I’m<br />
delighted to say that this couldn’t have been<br />
a better choice of speciality for me!<br />
I’ve always been drawn to the Volunteering<br />
side of things within AVA for many reasons - the<br />
satisfaction of placing a new volunteer within<br />
an organisation, or delivering Saltire Awards<br />
at a local school assembly, or watching<br />
confidence grow in a person who regularly<br />
volunteers that previously wouldn’t have been<br />
able to leave their house.<br />
Everyone has or will volunteer within their<br />
lifetime, just sometimes they are not aware<br />
they are doing it!<br />
So what do we mean by Volunteering?<br />
Volunteering is a choice. A choice to give time<br />
and energy, a choice undertaken of one’s<br />
own free will and a choice not motivated for<br />
financial gain or for a wage or salary.<br />
Formal Volunteering<br />
This is probably the most obvious and popular<br />
form of volunteering and happens when<br />
individuals join an organised community group<br />
or organisation that is delivering a service,<br />
running a facility or helping with local activities.<br />
Informal Volunteering<br />
This is sometimes seasonal and on a one-off<br />
basis, although it still often relies on bonding<br />
with a group. Most informal volunteering takes<br />
place in communities – of geography or of<br />
interest - and among people who have similar<br />
backgrounds.<br />
Whatever kind of volunteering you’re<br />
interested in, get in touch with me at<br />
Lorna.Sandison@avashire.org.uk or check out<br />
the volunteering opportunities on the AVA<br />
website at: www.avashire.org.uk.<br />
• In the past year AVA has had<br />
155 direct volunteer placement<br />
enquiries<br />
• 181 groups have requested<br />
assistance with volunteer<br />
recruitment<br />
• 2020 - <strong>2021</strong> AVA has issued<br />
159 iVolunteer Awards, 142 Saltire<br />
Awards and 222 Community<br />
Spirit Awards (which were directly<br />
related to Covid-19 volunteering)<br />
• More than 11,000 young people<br />
have registered through AVA<br />
for Saltire Awards
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