The forthcoming Coronation of Charles III casts a spotlight on the huge contribution made by volunteers to community life in the United Kingdom, with the additional Bank Holiday on May 8th labelled as “The Big Help Out”.
This event will be celebrated in Hambledon where volunteers have, for many years, underpinned activities and organisations that are so much part of the fabric of village life that it would be easy to take them for granted.
We would do so at our peril. The community-run village shop is in urgent need of new volunteers to keep going. And the parish council, as elections approach, is asking for people to consider putting themselves forward as candidates now for this vital role in the grass-roots democratic process.
Already the shop has had to reduce its opening hours as it faces up to the consequences of rising energy costs and a loss of an older generation of volunteers.
Two long-serving parish councillors – Philip Underwood and Mary Grove – are standing down at the local council elections on May 4th. Five of the current councillors are offering themselves for re-election but two more candidates are required to be at full strength, more if there is to be an election to contest the seven seats.
Please call in at the village shop or contact volunteer co-ordinator Tabby White on [email protected] if you are interested in helping out. It need only be for a few hours a week or month. And email [email protected] to find out more about becoming a candidate. The deadline for nominations to be submitted is April 4th.
The Big Help Out takes places on Monday May 8th, two days after the Coronation. Buckingham Palace, with the support of hundreds of charities and voluntary organisations across the UK, is using this special Bank Holiday to issue a rallying-call for people to step forward to undertake valuable work for their community.
Here in Hambledon, volunteers are asked to join in the annual parish clean-up. Please sign up in advance at the village shop or at the annual Village Assembly which takes place at the Village Hall on the evening of April 27th. Then, on May 8th at 10am, assemble at the shop to be provided with litter pickers and bin bags and to be given a designated area of the village to tidy. This is an event for all the family to take part in.
When finished please return to the shop with your bags and to take part in a free BBQ provided by the parish council. Many of the village organisations will have displays to demonstrate their work and to ask for new recruits. Volunteers will be on hand to explain what is involved.
Oakhurst Cottage, beside the cricket green, is run by the National Trust but it is local people that show visitors around on pre-booked guided tours of this little rural gem. The revived Good Neighbour Scheme relies on volunteers to take people to medical appointments and hospital visits.
The church, cricket and football clubs, speedwatch and the village hall can only function with voluntary effort. The parish magazine and this village website are run by volunteers.
It is timely to reflect that the much-valued shop and post office was resurrected after its closure as a commercial business thanks to the foresight and efforts of a band of hard-working villagers.
Many who pioneered this projects and then supported it over the years are now getting older and, deservedly, stepping down. Some have moved away. Some are frail or in poor health. .
Volunteering need only be a few hours a month, a couple of stints every other week or a regular slot each week. There are opportunities for a new generation of helpers and even if you are working full time there are weekend vacancies.
And if you are interested in becoming a parish council candidate, please consider doing so now as nominations must be received by Waverley Borough Council by April 4th.