Volunteers' Week Round Up 2025!
- Bethan Warrington
- 3 days ago
- 3 min read
Last week the Monmouthshire team celebrated Volunteers' week by taking part in volunteering activities across the county! 🙌
Youth Volunteers Fund Launch
We kicked off the week on Monday 2nd June by launching our Youth Volunteers Fund (previously named Cash4U)!
Kelly Sullivan created a brilliant post which announced the fund's new name, examples of how the funding has previously been used in each area and a link to the application form and guidance: 🌟 GAVO Youth Volunteers Fund 2025–26 – Now Open for Applications!
GAVO Monmouthshire are recruiting youth volunteers (aged 14–25) to join the panel for this fund. These young people help to make funding decisions that shape the future of youth provision in Monmouthshire.
Being a part of this panel is a fantastic opportunity to get involved in supporting the community. Those involved build confidence, gain new skills and learn to take ownership over a budget by making important decisions with the support of our Youth Volunteering Officer. It also makes a great addition to a college or university application and CVs for future employment! 🤝
If interested, please register yourself as a volunteer on https://bit.ly/3ZImf24 and search for this opportunity using the following link:
Monmouthshire Volunteer Awards Launch!
In addition to our Youth Volunteers Fund, we also launched the nomination process for this year's Monmouthshire Volunteer Awards (MVAs)!
Do you know an individual or group making a positive difference in their community? 🙌
The Monmouthshire Volunteer Awards is a perfect opportunity to shine a light on our community champions and unsung heroes.
📣Send your MVA nominations TODAY via Monmouthshire Volunteers Awards 2025
⏰Closing date: Monday 30th June at 9:00am
Volunteering Day at Dean Farm Trust
The GAVO Monmouthshire team have recently connected with an incredible animal sanctuary called Dean Farm Trust. Each furry resident at the sanctuary is shown the utmost compassion and respect and it is heartwarming to see. The weather was not on our side so the team began the day by helping Fernando clean and prepare chairs, signs and other items for the organisations' upcoming open day on Sunday the 15th June.
After a spot of vegan lunch 🌱 and a well deserved break over a cuppa, the team were given a tour of the sanctuary and met the animals who have a home for life in this beautiful place.
Our staff left with full hearts and lots of ideas of ways to offer support and collaborate with the sanctuary going forward.
Volunteer Recognition
At the end of the week our Youth Volunteering Officer, Chris Irving, visited Isaac Langran to give him a certificate of appreciation for all of his hard work in the community. Isaac is a previous winner of the Inspirational Young Person Award at the MVAs and although the project he was involved with has now ceased, he is looking to set up his own to support those who are digitally excluded. 👏
Isaac continues to be involved in the Monmouthshire Volunteer Awards as he will be joining our esteemed panel of judges this year to help us shortlist our 2025 volunteers for recognition.
During this meeting in the Wellbeing Information Centre, Isaac and Chris also discussed the Youth Volunteers Fund which Isaac will be applying for this year!
What's next?
There is still more to come! Our staff member Isla Arendell will be proudly presenting an award at Bridges' Volunteer Awards and Celebration event on the evening of the 10th June with two of her wonderful volunteers, Ruby and Janet, also attending.
The volunteers at TogetherWORKS are also looking forward to an appreciation event run by the staff on the 13th June. They are being treated to a 'forest bath' experience which our Health Social Care and Wellbeing Partnerships Officer, Miranda Thomason, is kindly providing at no cost. We are very lucky to have staff with a wide range of interests, talents and generous hearts on our team and the TogetherWORKS staff are very thankful to Miranda for her contribution to celebrating their incredible volunteers.
We hope everyone had a fantastic Volunteers' Week and enjoyed it as much as the GAVO Monmouthshire team! If you are interested in volunteering in Monmouthshire, please contact bethan.crowley@gavo.org.uk (25+ yrs) or chris.irving@gavo.org.uk (14-25yrs) and we can tell you about local opportunities in your area. We also highlight an #Opportunityoftheweek every Thursday lunchtime at 12:30pm. Keep an eye out for these on our Facebook page!
