Volunteer Cardiff: New website launched

A new website promoting volunteering opportunities in Cardiff will be launched today.

Volunteer Cardiff is a new portal set up to encourage people to volunteer in the city and to allow community groups, partners and Council services to share the vast range of volunteering opportunities they have available.

The site has been developed by Cardiff Council in partnership with Cardiff Third Sector Council (C3SC), Student Volunteering Cardiff, Keep Cardiff Tidy, Wales Council for Voluntary Action (WCVA), Sport Cardiff, Spice and Volunteering Wales.

Volunteer Cardiff allows citizens to choose the type of volunteering that they would like to do and in which area of the city. Opportunities are available on a short term or long term basis with local projects and community groups or with larger organisations such as the Council. Anyone is welcome to get involved, regardless of age, experience or skills.

Cabinet Member for Housing and Communities, Cllr Lynda Thorne, said: "Volunteering has many benefits including gaining skills and knowledge, meeting new friends and socialising, and it can also help people get the experience they need to get into employment.

"As part of our Capital Ambition vision, we are committed to supporting people back into work by providing a network of volunteering opportunities where they can gain experience and confidence to find a job.

"Many people find themselves in the situation where they have some time on their hands and they want to give something back to their community but they don't know where to start.

Volunteer Cardiff is now that first step and I'm encouraging people to take a look at the new website to find an opportunity that suits them.

"As a Council we provide many opportunities to volunteer from helping out at our Hubs or play centres to being a school governor. When you volunteer with the Council, we are committed to supporting you, so that your experience is rewarding and fulfilling."

Cabinet assistant for Community Engagement, Cllr Jennifer Burke - Davies, said: "We want to make volunteering more accessible and visible within Cardiff and this new site will play a large part in that, giving Cardiff citizens a chance to add their local knowledge, skills and understanding to services and their own communities."

Cardiff's community hubs are one of the Council services supported by volunteers with 62 people recruited to offer their time and efforts for free from April to September this year.

The new website will be launched at Grangetown Hub this afternoon when Cllr Thorne will meet some of the hub volunteers and find out more about their roles and experiences.

Cllr Thorne added: "We'd like to say a big thank to our volunteers for their hard work, which saw the service win the Digital Category in the WCVA volunteer of the year awards.

"People don't volunteer with the expectation of being recognised or rewarded but I think it's important that we do say thank you for their fantastic work. The dedication of all volunteers around the city is much appreciated and we look forward to continuing to work with them in the future."

Visitwww.Volunteercardiff.co.ukto find out more about volunteering in the city orfollow @VolunteerCdf on Twitter.