Expo gives chance to learn more about volunteering opportunities

It was a day to learn, to inform and to take up opportunities about volunteering.

The groups and organisations attending the expo celebrate Volunteers Week

The Wolverhampton Volunteer Expo was a chance for organisations and group across the city to talk to people interested in volunteering, but not sure where to go to do so.

Darren Kench from Eden Project Communities was giving out cupcakes as part of the Big Lunch initiative

The event at Wolverhampton Civic Centre on Wednesday saw groups such as Beacon Centre for the Blind, Healthwatch, Wolverhampton Homes, Wildside Activity Centre and Wolverhampton Sea Cadets meet members of the public and chat about opportunities to volunteer.

The atmosphere inside the atrium of the Civic Centre was positive and lively as keen volunteers learned about potential opportunities at the event, which was organised by Wolverhampton Volunteers as part of Volunteers Week.

Varinder Raulia, Blandine West, Zainab Ahmed and Max Miller from the British Red Cross

Wolverhampton Volunteers, which is part of Wolverhampton Voluntary & Community Action, works with more than 200 voluntary organisations across the city and coordinator Pete Emms said the event demonstrated the appetite for volunteering in the city.

He said: "We find that a lot of people are asking how they can volunteer and we've got more than 200 organisations working with us, offering more than 400 volunteering opportunities, so today has been an opportunity for people to come and sample what's available.

The Sea Cadets were among the groups taking part in the event

"We try and do an event every year around volunteering as we know that, post-2020, there was a massive drop in volunteering, which is just picking back up at a local and national level, so what we're trying to do is raise the profile of volunteering and encourage people to get involved.

"Volunteers are like the glue that holds communities together and a lot of the groups here are led by volunteers and even run by them in some cases, so volunteers are really valuable across the community.

"The organisations we've had here today have covered a wide spectrum of community elements, while also being just a snapshot of what is out there and what you can do volunteer-wise."

To find out more about Wolverhampton Volunteers and the volunteering opportunities in Wolverhampton, go to http://wtonvolunteers.org/