Westmeath Volunteer Centre is calling on the public to get involved in volunteering in the community next month, during National Volunteering Week which takes place from May 11-17.
National Volunteering Week highlights the multitude of ways that individuals and organisations can get involved in supporting causes, aiding charities, and helping in their local communities.
Research commissioned by Volunteer Ireland has found that for 20 per cent of people the main barrier to getting involved in volunteering is not knowing where or how to find opportunities. However, Westmeath Volunteer Centre is determined to change this during National Volunteering Week. The most common place where people volunteer, at 72 per cent, is with a local charity. The most common motivation to volunteer was to support a specific cause (55 per cent ), while helping out in the local community was the priority for 53 per cent of volunteers.
For more information log on to www.volunteer.ie or call (044 ) 9348571.
The online volunteer database I-VO can also be found at www.volunteer.ie I-VOL works both ways - people can search for volunteering opportunities in their local areas and organisations can also post that they are searching for volunteers.
