Anyone can volunteer…

West Devon has a great reputation for being strongly community-minded and big-hearted.

People volunteer for many different reasons and are all aware that the benefits are huge, for themselves as well as for the groups they are helping. Volunteers are of all ages, backgrounds and abilities, from students looking to volunteer for their Duke of Edinburgh Awards, to young (and older) jobseekers wishing to enhance their CVs, young parents finding they are recovering a little free ‘me time’, and early and late retirees - all with an enormous range of skills and interests to learn and share. Volunteers get out and about, make new friends and often find that their health improves as well as their sense of well-being. Their community becomes strong and vibrant with both long-established and new groups relishing the regular or one-off contribution of their volunteers.

Here in West Devon, people thinking of volunteering, and those already involved, have the advantage of the active and wide-ranging advice and support offered by West Devon Community and Voluntary Services (WDCVS); the CVS not only helps people become active citizens in their community, but also supports and promotes voluntary and community action by developing the capacity, skills and knowledge of the groups needing volunteers, connecting the groups together to encourage joint working, thereby increasing the sector’s influence overall.

West Devon CVS works in partnership with other CVS groups in Devon through Devon Voluntary Action (DeVA), in particular by running a user-friendly website dedicated to volunteering in Devon at www.devonva.org/volunteer, where you can discover information on a huge range of volunteering opportunities covering countless interests and activities.  It’s easy to use by entering your postcode, clicking on preferred interests, and then signing up. As people’s levels of availability vary widely, organisations usually adjust their roles to suit an individual’s free time. For more encouragement, do have a look at a short, enjoyable and life-affirming film celebrating volunteering in Tavistock. You can find it on YouTube at youtu.be/_BsBGlYBwC0 or type in ‘celebrating volunteering’ in the search bar on YouTube.com.

Advice and support on all things volunteering is there for the asking not only on the DeVA website mentioned above, but also at www.westdevoncvs.org.uk. You can also email  volunteering@westdevoncvs.org.uk, telephone 01837 53392 or call in at Tavistock Library every other Thursday morning between 10 am and 1 pm on 8, 22 February and 8, 22 March etc. You will receive a warm welcome!