Volunteering
Volunteering has never been more valuable to Lincolnshire and our way of life. Nationally, in 2019, 19.4 million people engaged in volunteering activities through groups, clubs or other organisations. In 2019 and 2020 volunteer centres in Lincolnshire were able to attract over £1.5m of funding with 2,787 people supported to access volunteering.
Through increasing the level of community participation we can help communities to become more self-sufficient and sustainable. We want to work with others to promote opportunities to volunteer and the benefits that volunteering brings.
We recognise that people will volunteer for lots of different reasons, whether it's to gain new skills or simply to give something back. We want to work with those closest to communities to improve opportunities for skills development through volunteering. This is often a really effective way of helping somebody to:
- take the first steps into employment
- gain the confidence and experience that they need to thrive
We want to see:
- better ways of matching skills and volunteering opportunities
- a much greater focus on the ability to self-serve
- those who want to give something back to be able to find easy ways of connecting with voluntary organisations that need support
- those organisations to be well placed to take up the offer and to get the most from the diverse range of skills that are available.
We will develop new ways of ensuring training and development is in place to:
- support community participation initiatives
- enable our community networks to grow and prosper
We also know that those working within Lincolnshire County Council often volunteer within their local communities. They utilise their time, skills and expertise to help others. We want to celebrate and support this amazing contribution and encourage more to come forward. As part of this, we will use our networks to encourage our partners and key employers to get involved and support community initiatives.