Volunteers’ week 1-7 June - Reflection by Dean Sue

Next week it is Volunteers’ Week. What is Volunteers’ week you may ask, well it is one week in the year when we are asked to say ‘thank you’ to all people who volunteer in our society. Volunteers’ Week is supported by both big and small charities.
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Did you know that:

• In 2018/19, 19.4 million (36%) people volunteered through a group at least once a year and over 11.9 million (22%) of people did so at least once a month.
• The most common reason overall for volunteering is wanting to improve things or help people (42%). 
• In 2019/20, there were around 163,000 voluntary organisations in the UK, most of which rely on volunteers.
• In 2017/18, the voluntary sector contributed £18.2bn to the UK economy. This is equivalent to about 0.9% of GDP.
• 67% of volunteers give their time to charities and community groups, but many others also volunteer in the public and private sectors.

Find out more at volunteersweek.org

A time to say Thank you to our Volunteers

​Liverpool Cathedral is one charity that benefits enormously from their volunteers. In fact the Peace Doves Installation would not have happened without the help of volunteers. The Cathedral as a whole could not function the way it does without our volunteers. We have over 100 people who come and use their gifts to help support the Cathedral. We have Welcomers, those people who you first meet on entering the Cathedral. We have Guides who know all the interesting facts and the history in the Cathedral. We have people who assist with school visits. We have people who use their gifts in the music department, we have people who act as Stewards during our worship services and we have people who assist in the worship. We have people who keep the robes in good order and stitch or embroider. We have people that knit and crochet through the Prayer Shawl ministry. We have people who ring the bells. Our archives department is run completely by volunteers! All these people give their time and talents to enable the Cathedral to function and we are just so grateful to them.

Our volunteer manager Jenny Moran has this to say about the volunteers:

"I have always valued our volunteers and now more than ever I feel I understand why they volunteer.  Over the last 15 months I have spent more time at home and on my own than any other time I can remember.  I got to the stage where I didn’t know what day it was or have anything to look forward to.  I now understand that as a Cathedral Volunteer you have a schedule to your week, you are going to come and be part of a great team on Tuesday or come and sit on a committee and help make the right decision for the Cathedral.  Volunteering is all about enjoying your time in the Cathedral be it in Education workshops or helping at Summer Arts Market.  The Cathedral volunteers are truly amazing and never let us down, they are here in the rain, they stand for long hours and they share the amazing story of this building and in doing so manage to save the Cathedral millions of pounds.  Most of you will know me and the best way I can express my gratitude to you all is by raising a glass and saying thank you so very much for volunteering for us, we genuinely couldn’t do it without you." 
 
So in summary people and organisations benefit from the gifts and talents people have and the Bible teaches us to use the gifts and talents to honour God. So as Volunteers’ Week approaches let us give thanks to the many millions of volunteers in our country and let us thank those who volunteer in Liverpool Cathedral. The world would be in a very sorry state without you. So

Thank You
Dean Sue

While you're here:
Why not prepare for next Sunday's worship? Our preparation sheet for adults and for children can be accessed by clicking on the Resources tab of this website: https://www.prayerforliverpool.org/prayer-resources.html.