Volunteer week: A big thank you!

Today marks the start of the 30th annual Volunteers Week, and Age Scotland is taking the opportunity to say a big thank you to the 275 volunteers who support our work.

From providing advice to callers on the Silver Line Scotland helpline, to staffing our 15 shops from Dumfries to Stirling, and carrying out administrative work in the Edinburgh head office, our volunteers are vital.
 
Brian Sloan, Chief Executive of Age Scotland, said: "Our volunteers are key to the charity's success. We benefit so much from the generous donation of their time and energy but we also gain from the diversity and depths of their life experience too. It is inspiring working somewhere surrounded by people who are so committed to our aims and we work hard to make their time with us as rewarding as possible.
 
"While our volunteers are diverse in age, background and skills, it's also important during this week to recognise the huge contribution that older people in Scotland make by donating their time and energy to many causes."
 
Groups and organisations around Scotland benefit from the many older people who volunteer each year with 27% of men and 33%* of women between the ages of 60 and 74 helping out for free. Among those aged 75 and over the figure is around one in five people.
 
In total Scotland's volunteers contribute £2.5 billion to the Scottish economy.
 
To find out more about volunteering opportunities at Age Scotland click here.  Find out more about our volunteers and what they do in a series of features this week on our blog.
 
 
 
 
*Figures courtesy of the Scottish Government's 2012 Scottish Household Survey.