For day three of Volunteers’ Week in Blackburn with Darwen, Community CVS, along with Chip in, BwDBC and the Lancashire Volunteer Partnership, hosted the Big Thank You in Blackburn Central Library. Volunteers from across the Borough were invited to come along, have a chat with us about who they volunteer for and get a Certificate of thanks to celebrate their contribution to the Community as a whole.
The weather wasn’t great but we were able to move the event indoors. We expected lots of people to come along but we were astounded that nearly 200 people attended, mingled with one another and gave us an idea of just how much volunteering contributes to the communities of Blackburn with Darwen.
Yaqoob Hussain MBE has been a central part of the boxing community in Blackburn for nearly 50 years. His Boxing Club in Whitebirk relies wholly on volunteers both for assisting with training and the general upkeep of the gym.
Yaqoob said:
“We have always tried to be a part of young peoples lives, giving them an opportunity to gain discipline and self control. If we didn’t volunteer for this, their lives would be much poorer and they would run the risk of losing themselves in anti-social behaviour. We know that as long as we volunteer our time to Boxing, we make a real difference to young peoples lives.”
Deidre Page from Darwen Kindness Younited helps facilitate community groups in Darwen East. Again, they are wholly led by volunteers, each with a separate specialism and an overwhelming desire to make a difference.
Deidre said:
“Our group of 10 volunteers come with a wealth of experience and knowledge gleaned from many years of associated work in Housing, Benefits, Food Poverty, Education, Domestic Violence, Substance and Alcohol Misuse, Housing etc. We are recruiting more through our involvement in the Community as our sessions increase to being daily. Through our learning what the community initially needs through to what their aspirations will be after and with ongoing support, the Community should grow more integrated and resilient. Its our volunteers that make a difference and we can only get stronger through them.”
VOICE are a group in Blackburn and Darwen that tries to engage with those either not known to or resistant to Services in Alcohol and Substance misuse. With around 15 volunteers, they have successfully helped people into Services for many years now through their Saturday Breakfast Club but have now added an engagement service in Darwen (in conjunction with Darwen Kindness Younited) and have recently started a project to provide MIDAS training for minibuses in the Borough where there are more vehicles than qualified drivers.
VOICE Secretary Geoff Wilkinson said:
“VOICE provides a safe space every Saturday where a hot meal is provided along with showers and toiletries. VOICE works with the most vulnerable people within the community and helps them to deal with issues that they may be struggling with at any given time. We step in to plug a gap that Services find difficult to fill. We know we make a real difference to people’s lives through volunteering and it gives us an enormous sense of pride.”
Jubilee Tower Credit Union in Darwen is a not-for-profit, community-based financial services provider. Their members are their shareholders helping the Community with savings and loans.
After many years housed on Bolton Road, they are now based on Market Street in the centre of Darwen.
James Entwistle, Business Support Officer, said
“Peter has volunteered with us now for 15 years. He helped us with the upheaval of our move and has continued to help us in our new building. He is one of us and we feel he is more than a part of our family. We know that volunteering with us is a big part of his life and we will always have him as part of our team for as long as he likes. We cannot thank him enough.”
