Local charity pledges over 1,000 hours of volunteering support to local communities

Local charity, Aster Foundation will be making a difference to local communities with over 1,000 hours of volunteering pledged by its supporters and beneficiaries.  

The aim of its 1,000 Hours campaign was to reach a combined total of volunteer hours investment of time across local communities to coincide with National Volunteers’ Week (1 - 7 June 2022). The charity encouraged it’s supporters, together with Aster Group employees to donate their time and pledge volunteer support for causes close to their heart, including support for homelessness and mental health.  The total hours pledged has reached a total of 1,387 hours.

Cam Kinsella, Aster Foundation director, said: “The Aster Foundation is focused on empowering and enabling the lives of 40,000 people in our communities, by 2030 and part of this is connecting our communities with volunteers, so they have the skills and resources they need to thrive. Volunteering not only helps support mental health and wellbeing but also tackles loneliness and can be a great way to gain skills and experience. It’s these things we wanted to tap into with 1,000 Hours. We’re really proud of the commitment and generosity of our people, supporters and beneficiaries who are donating their time to make a difference.”

Research carried out for National Volunteers’ Week found that *16.3m people volunteered through a group, club, or organisation in 2020/21 and almost one in five (17%) people reported volunteering at least once a month, about 9.2m people with many using volunteering as a way of connecting to others during the pandemic.

Aster VIP, the Aster Foundation volunteer programme connects communities with employee volunteering. The charity is working to invest at least 3,000 days of time into local communities by 2030. It is now calling for local organisations in need of volunteer support to get in touch.

Organisations looking for volunteer support can contact Aster Foundation at asterfoundation@aster.co.uk.

For further information about the Aster Foundation, visit www.aster.co.uk/foundation