Shaping the future of helping others...

A series of volunteer roadshows have been held across Oldham this week, inviting people currently involved in the voluntary sector to shape the new service, funded by Oldham Partnership.

Voluntary Action Oldham has won the commission to manage the project, which will be supported by Oldham Council and launched in April.

It aims to act as a broker, increasing communication between voluntary groups and people who want to offer a helping hand.

Amanda Bickerton, volunteer centre development officer, said: “We get a lot of young people coming through the door or applying online in Oldham and it’s really encouraging, hundreds every month.

“But if you want to be attracting more people, you need to be advertising to those not already involved in the voluntary activities and associations. Now we finally have the funding and ability to do this and direct people in the right direction, it’s a really big step.”

Jenny Daubney is a voluntary member of Lees Community Association, helping arrange local events throughout the calendar.

She said: “I think there’s that fear there that if people sign up for something, it is written in stone and they have to go every week. It would be nice to have a pool of volunteers available and then the responsibilities wouldn’t fall on the same people every time.”

Mrs Daubney attended the event at Uppermill Civic Hall on Tuesday, to give her opinion as both a member of a voluntary group recruiting others and a volunteer herself.

However the Saddleworth roadshow suffered low attendance throughout the day, which organisers say may have been due to a clash in people’s priorities or a lack of marketing during half term.

Carol Savage from North West Network, the organisation recruited to consult with the public, said: “If the take-up is quite low then we’re going to go out into the community to find out what people want from the service rather than them coming to us.

Jacqueline Fry, who also attended the event, volunteers for the Oldham MS Society. She said: “Since retiring, volunteering has given me something else to do with my time.

“It’s a positive step for me and I’m hoping to get involved in other volunteering placements through this.”