Volunteer Week starts on Friday June 1, and continues until June 7, recognising the contribution volunteers make to the community and raising awareness of the benefits of volunteering to the volunteers themselves, and the diverse range of possible things everyone can volunteer to do.
As part of the week the Sussex Community Foundation will be publicising examples of volunteering in action throughout the week. The Foundation raises funds for, and gives grant to, charities and community groups – such as Rye News – and has handed out £13m in grants since 2006.
Rye News has benefited from the foundation’s help and as Editor-in-chief I wrote the article below for the Foundation about Rye News and the benefits of volunteering:
I am 75 years old, live in Rye and I volunteer to work on Rye News a weekly online newspaper.
This was launched in 2014 because it was felt the traditional local printed weekly did not provide enough local news, and the local community (and democracy) needed more “news” to publicise what was happening locally – roughly an eight-to-10-mile area round Rye.
Published weekly on Thursday evening, the paper sends subscribers an email telling them about the main stories that week so they can look online.
As a town councillor, I find it means residents know what is going on. As a resident it means I know what is going on. And it also means potential visitors know what is going on (as thousands visit our website each month) and Rye is said to get a million visitors each year.
Getting a weekly newspaper out is hard work, though. In the busiest summer month it means nearly 140 stories over four weeks, but in the depths of winter maybe only 70 per month.
It means working with a group of people, not all of whom always (or ever) agree with each other, and being part of (as well as serving) the community– and we are often (and probably mostly) reporting on the work and effort of other volunteers, such as the Rye Community Shop, which raises funds for a wide variety of community groups.
I finished paid work 10 years ago (annoying Government ministers in Whitehall) but had been a journalist earlier on in my life so it was a return to what I knew something about – and many volunteers are using their existing skills, experience and knowledge in a new, unpaid environment, but feeling valued.
Also (and inevitably in today’s world) the local community features those who have been here for ever (just look at the surnames on the local war memorial) and “incomers” who may have been here for 15-20 years, but that doesn’t count.
Volunteering therefore helps bring the community together in many different ways and in many different areas; and our newspaper is split into news, features, opinions, culture, sports and what’s on – together with the all-important online opportunity to “comment”.
We may, very occasionally, miss some stories, and in others we may not always get it right – and the readers tell us. But they also send in stories and we have become another useful tool for many volunteer groups, in addition to the nearest lamp-post, fence or shop window, as all groups need to communicate. We all need to talk – to each other – and volunteering is a great way to do that and give life meaning.
Photo: Rye News library
Thank you for mentioning the Rye Community shop as an example of how volunteering can help our community. We are always looking for volunteers if anyone feels they can give up a few hours each week. Together the volunteers have helped to raise over £40,000 for the local community but not only that, it’s a great place to meet the customers, locals and visitors alike.