Surrey leader calls for more community volunteers

Surrey leader calls for more community volunteers

Surrey County Council leader Dr Andrew Povey held up shining examples of volunteer work in the county as he urged even more people to get involved in their communities.

Dr Povey used a meeting of the Full Council (18 July) to highlight volunteers as an excellent example of the benefits to neighbourhoods provided by people taking on greater civic and personal responsibility.

Those Dr Povey has singled out for praise include:

· School governors, who form the country’s biggest volunteer force

· People who give up their time to look after Surrey’s countryside for the likes of the Surrey Wildlife Trust

· Community speedwatch groups that team up with the police to help take action against motorists driving too fast, such as the one in Ockley, near Dorking

· Meals on wheels volunteers who help deliver food to the elderly and ill.

The work of the Surrey Historic Buildings Trust’s volunteers in helping to preserve the county’s architecture has also been hailed by Dr Povey while seven groups, including Surrey Drug and Alcohol Care, Oxted and District LINK and the Stewards of the Surrey County Show, earned the prestigious Queen’s Award for Voluntary Services this year.

Dr Povey said: “I pay tribute to all those who already do so much selfless work in communities throughout Surrey for the common good. I hope the good example they set will encourage even more people to play their part. We need to do all we can to support people who want to volunteer and perhaps Surrey’s catchphrase should be ‘everyone a volunteer’.

“We’re doing our bit by making sure services are run even better and putting value for money at the heart of everything we do but improvements also depend on residents playing a role in their community. Everyone can volunteer to play their part and we will all gain as a result.”

Ends

For more information, please contact Senior Media Relations Officer Kevin Richardson on 0208 541 7267 or email kevin.richardson@surreycc.gov.uk

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