Today is the start of Volunteers' Week and for Special Olympics GB, it is one of the most important weeks of the year. Running every year from 1st June to 7th June, Volunteers' Week is a national event which gives us the opportunity to recognise and celebrate the amazing work and fantastic contribution volunteers make to our communities. And most importantly for us to THANK YOU.
Darren Wyn Jones, Network Development Manager whose main focus is looking after the development of our current and future volunteers explains: “Put simply, Special Olympics GB would not exist if it wasn’t for our volunteers. Our hard-working, dedicated, passionate volunteers form the back-bone of our organisation and we are incredibly grateful for all their efforts. Not only do our volunteers deliver training and competition in a wide range of sports, more importantly, they give vital support to more than 6,500 of our athletes with intellectual disabilities across Scotland, England and Wales week in week out.
“In any average year, that is already a huge commitment for our volunteers to make. However, over the past two years our volunteers have had to play a key role in the response to the global pandemic, Covid-19. Throughout this exceptionally difficult period of time, our volunteers have had to be creative and find ways to keep an already isolated and vulnerable community safe, active and connected at a time when our athletes were experiencing heightened levels of isolation, anxiety and loneliness. From setting up virtual training and activities such as quizzes, discos or even just the opportunity to talk and connect with their friends, our volunteers consistently went above and beyond.
“So on behalf of all our athletes, families, carers and staff at national office we just wanted to say a massive THANK YOU! Your hard-work, enthusiasm, dedication, passion, kindness and empathy are very much appreciated and we can’t wait to see many of you during the up-coming Special Olympics Summer Series of Sport to say thank you in person.”
Watch this space to read some of our volunteers stories and experiences with Special Olympics GB over the next few days. And if you are interested in volunteering with Special Olympics GB please click HERE or contact Darren Wyn Jones.