The Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) has welcomed calls by the Prince of Wales to encourage more young people into volunteering.
The Prince today launched the Step Up To Serve campaign, which aims to increase the number of young people aged 10 to 20 years old who volunteer. He hopes that 50 per cent of this age bracket will be involved in some voluntary activity by 2020.
Grahame Pickering, chief executive at GNAAS, said: “Volunteers are the life-blood of charity, but it can be difficult to attract new, keen participants.
“This initiative will help drive young people into charity work and that in turn will make a huge difference to the work we do.
“In signing up to help GNAAS, young people are making a direct contribution to keeping our aircraft flying.”
GNAAS offers a range of opportunities for young volunteers, such as getting involved in fundraising events, holding collections and helping with presentations.Opportunities can be tailored to the individual however, and the charity is keen to speak to anyone who may be interested.
Mr Pickering added: “Our volunteers are a remarkable set of people, and in recognition of that we are now opening a ‘volunteer of the month’ scheme to give praise and thanks to these people who give up their time to support this vital service, which is entirely charitably funded.
“So, whether you are media savvy, wish to perfect your presentation skills or take on an admin role alongside a college course, then the time is right and an opportunity is waiting for you.”
As part of the project, the Prince will launch an online pledge campaign with the hashtag #iwill on Twitter. If anyone would like to volunteer for GNAAS, please tweet “#iwill volunteer for @GNairambulance”, get in touch on our Facebook at facebook.com/GNairambulance, or call GNAAS on 01325-487263.
In any voluntary role, help and assistance is always on hand, and all necessary equipment is provided.
Share
