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Tuesday Jan 31, 2006
Greater London Volunteering event
I went to an event yesterday evening in the 'mayor's living room' of the the splendid city hall, which overlooks London Bridge and, beyond, the mess of skyscrapers, ancient buildings, city centres and village-like neighbourhoods that is all of greater London. Sponsored by Greater London Volunteering (another essential acronym: GLV), it was a celebration of volunteers throughout this big city.
Greater London Volunteering is the network of London volunteering development agencies and centres, and a partner of Volunteering England, Time Bank and, of course, do-it, the national volunteering database, developed by YouthNet, where many London and UK volunteers find their first opportunity.
There were many speeches, as anticipated - from volunteer centre managers describing a rise in numbers and appealing for more money (a London Year of the Volunteer, please?), from charitable organisations lauding their volunteers' efforts, and from city staff looking forward to the 2012 Olympics with its promise of civic renewal (one speaker remembering the Sydney Olympics in which 50,000 trained volunteers encapsulated a community spirit special to the games). We heard young tabla players. We watched a hip hop dance. I didn't stay for the steel band.
But the more moving moments were speeches from volunteers themselves. One 20-year old woman left school as a young teenager with few options, and found a volunteer role at a local youth centre where she filed, assisted with outreach projects, and dreaded answering the telephone. She was recently told by a recruitment agency that she had a nice phone manner: everyone chuckled.
The canapes weren't half-bad, either.
~ko
Posted by Kirsten Olson ( 3:34 PM ) Link to this post Comments[1]
It is quick, easy, safe and secure. For further information on the charity walk, visit
www.ahmadiyyawalk.org
Thank you
Posted by Dabir Bhatti on June 23, 2008 at 11:58 AM GMT+00:00 #