All welcome at Scotland’s largest Volunteer Recruitment Fair

Charities, social enterprises, community groups and the public sector search for volunteers

Volunteer Edinburgh will welcome more than 50 organisations to Scotland’s largest volunteer recruitment fair on Wednesday, 20 September between 11am and 7pm at St Paul’s and St Georges Church on York Place.

The Fair will showcase the wide range of ways that people can get involved in volunteering with organisations big and small, local and national, who serve a diverse range of communities and causes all coming together with one common aim – to attract new volunteers.

Entry is free to the public, and more than a thousand potential volunteers are expected to visit and experience the diverse range of ways they can become involved.

There will be a free special learning-zone where visitors can learn about what it’s really like to volunteer your time, how to use volunteering to improve your chances of employment and how even someone with a really busy life can participate in volunteering.

When visitors need to sit down after taking in all this new information there’s a café serving delicious food and drink run by bespoke organic events (boe), an Edinburgh based social enterprise.

Volunteering helps people truly participate in their communities, build new skills, get a taste of different working environments, create new friendships and boost individual confidence and wellbeing.  Or simply just feel good that they have done something that made a difference.  With one of the highest rates of volunteering in Scotland (35%) Edinburgh’s people have demonstrated that they are more than willing to help out, but as the Volunteer Recruitment Fair will show, even more people are needed to donate their time and skills.

Paul J Wilson, Chief Officer of Volunteer Edinburgh, said: “Edinburgh is a city of volunteers, a city of people active in their communities and yet 62% of organisations tell us that they need more volunteers to help them.  The Recruitment Fair is a brilliant way that people can find out about what opportunities exist and what volunteering might do for them.  It’s a unique chance to speak directly to so many organisations and make connections that can change lives.”

For more about the Volunteer Recruitment Fair, visit the Volunteer Edinburgh website: www.volunteeredinburgh.org.uk