1 June month Volunteers Week (1-6)
Eight years on from the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, Birmingham is appealing for 13,000 volunteers to help with next year’s Games there. Our community and country wouldn’t run the way it does without volunteers: from parent-teacher councils, to youth organisations, to charity committees, to sports club committees, to National Trust for Scotland guides, to helpers at events like the Euros, we depend on people volunteering to help. They willingly give of their time (and money) to help the wider community. I remember hearing one youth organisation leader being accused by a parent of being ‘mad’ for ‘doing all that work without being paid’. Volunteers are happy to do it, and find satisfaction and fulfilment from doing it (well, most of the time). In Maslow’s terms it is part of Self-actualisation (don’t worry if that doesn’t mean anything). The first week of June is a chance to acknowledge and celebrate those unsung heroes, the band of volunteers that keep the country running. Maybe a chance too to consider whether there is anything else we can do
Lord, thank you for all those who volunteer in so many ways, and help to keep our community and country operating. Help them to find satisfaction and fulfilment in what they do, and to
