Key charity Ministers will be visiting projects that benefit people living with mental illness or school pupils for Volunteers’ Week (1-7 June). The Government’s independent volunteering champion, Baroness Julia Neuberger, Cabinet Secretary, Gus O’Donnell and Minister for the Third Sector, Phil Hope will each visit projects backed by UK volunteering charity CSV.
Two of the three projects being visited are part of Capital Volunteering, a programme which tackles issues of mental health and social exclusion through volunteering, with support from CSV and the London Development Centre.
Independent research reveals that volunteering improves mental health in more than half of those who participate. (1) Separate research by the Institute of Psychiatry shows more than a fifth of volunteers report an improvement in general health and almost a third (29%) of volunteers report increased self-confidence, while the same proportion report improvements in socialising and making friends. (2)
The Ministers are visiting the following CSV backed projects:
Gus O’Donnell, will visit a cycling project on the 4th June based in the outer London green belt of Thames Chase Nature Reserve in Upminster. This group consists mainly of service user volunteers who give their time by repairing bikes that are loaned out to other mental health service users. A total of 40 volunteers have been involved in the project supporting 120 people with mental health issues take part in bike rides.
Emma Evans, 38 and from Harold Hill, Romford, is a volunteer on this project. Emma said: “The best bit about volunteering is seeing the look on people’s faces and the enjoyment they get from the fresh air. Helping other people has given me more confidence and a real sense of worth.”
Baroness Neuberger will visit on the 5th June volunteers with experience of mental ill health who help run an internet café, a gardening group and other activities for inpatients at the riverside centre in Uxbridge. In the Hillingdon area nearly 300 people with mental health issues are volunteering in projects that benefit the local population.
Carole Dimmock, 58, from Uxbridge, Middlesex is a volunteer on the project. Carole said: “After a career in teaching I was hit with depression. Almost immediately after leaving hospital I began volunteering and helping others, which definitely helped me. I think the patients appreciate speaking with someone who knows about depression first hand.”
Bill Garland, Deputy Executive Director of CSV, said: “There are significant benefits both for service users and the NHS by investing in volunteer programmes. When volunteering opportunities are properly supported and carefully created, everybody can make a valuable contribution regardless of their background and can experience positive changes in their own lives in the process.”
In addition to the visits to mental health volunteering projects, Minister for the Third Sector, Phil Hope will visit Winton Primary School near Kings Cross which has a long tradition of involving volunteers who help pupils with their studies and provide opportunities for take part in sport.
For further press information: Paul Donohoe 020 7812 0037/0779 624 385 pdonohoe@csv.org.ukor Jason Tanner 020 7812 0038 jtanner@csv.org.uk.
Notes for Editors
1. The findings (published 2008) are part of The Impact Assessment of Volunteering in the NHS project, including Nottinghamshire. It is funded by the Department of Health and is intended to devise a method of evaluation that can be used by NHS Trusts to help evaluate their volunteering programmes. The research in Nottinghamshire was conducted by the Institute for Volunteering Research.
• The impact of volunteering on improved mental health is particularly marked upon service user volunteers, with 58% reporting improvements in their own mental health.
• The impact of volunteers working with people living with mental illness is dramatic, with 79% of recipients feeling positive knowing that other people care enough to give up their time to help them.
• Volunteering improves feelings of self-worth. Almost all the volunteers (90%) felt that volunteering enhanced their sense of making a useful contribution.
2. Institute of Psychiatry of King’s College London 2007.
3. CSV (Community Service Volunteers) creates opportunities for people to take an active part in the life of their communities through volunteering, training and community action. In 2006/7 229,869 people gave time as volunteers through CSV. CSV trained 12,309 people of all ages and linked 29,000 people to learning through BBC Local Radio. www.csv.org.uk