King Charles has voiced his support for this year’s Big Help Out (BHO), set to take place over three days from 7 to 9 June.
Some 7.2 million people took part in last year’s volunteer event, organisers estimate.
The BHO will take place at the end of Volunteers’ Week, and is including a weekday for the first time in order to give schools and workplaces the chance to get involved.
This year’s Big Help Out will have a particular focus on providing opportunities for young people to get involved.
Matt Hyde, chair of the BHO steering group, said the organisers also plan to target communities who were less likely to take part in traditional volunteering.
Catherine Johnstone, CEO of Royal Voluntary Service and co-founder of the BHO, said: “Recent research has identified the British public have a strong appetite to volunteer and play their part in their communities. They want to get stuck in and just need some of the barriers removed.
“That’s why the Big Help Out can be a real game-changer. The campaign catapults volunteering up people’s to-do lists, gives them a perfect bite-sized opportunity to try locally and with all the appeal of being part of a shared national celebration.”
Organisations are being invited to register their volunteering opportunities on the updated BHO platform, where millions of current and new volunteers will be recruited to get involved and the general public is being invited to save the date and pledge a day of their time to volunteer.
As in 2024, volunteering opportunities – searchable by location and interest – will once again be available on the BHO app.
King Charles: ‘Each of us will have a chance to play a small part’
King Charles III said: “I am delighted to support the return of the Big Help Out in 2024.
“This summer, between 7 June and 9 June, there will be another opportunity to join so many dedicated volunteers in giving time to a worthy cause of their choosing, whether that is supporting a local food bank, tending a community garden, spending time with a vulnerable person or teaching a skill to young people.
“Whoever and wherever you are, each of us will have a chance to play a small part in helping transform our communities for the benefit of all.
“This year, the Big Help Out is particularly keen to invite schools and businesses to be a part of this special moment. Young people’s energy and enthusiasm can be enormously valuable, and business is a vital part of the fabric of both our local communities and of our wider society.
“So, if you are able, I can only encourage you to support the Big Help Out once more, thereby helping to build the kinder, closer communities of which we can all be so proud.”
Last year, 35,000 voluntary organisations and 2,000 businesses signed up to the Big Help Out, with more than 50,000 events across the country taking place as part of the inaugural event, which coincided with the king’s coronation.
Organisers did not say how many charities and volunteers they expected to take part this year.
The BHO is backed by 30 charities including the British Red Cross, Canal & River Trust, RSPCA and Samaritans.
Related Articles
