The MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough, Andrew Jones, will commence his third annual Volunteer Week on 23 September 2013 following the success of his three previous volunteer weeks.
Andrew spent six days volunteering at various organisations in 2010, 2011 and 2012 to encourage more people to offer their time to charities in the area and he will be doing it all again, with a new set of charities and organisations between the 23 September and the 28 September.
He will start the week at the Harrogate Easier Living Project (HELP) which helps elderly and disabled people with DIY on Monday 23 September. Andrew will be working with the HELP at Home team doing repairs on one of HELP at Home’s client’s properties.
For the rest of the week Andrew will be helping man a stall in aid of the Yorkshire Air Ambulance at the Nidderdale Show, baking scones at Dr B’s restaurant on Knaresborough Road, promoting fitness for older people at Grosvenor House Nursing Home, helping support former addicts back into work, helping out at Henshaws, working at the Mayor of Knaresborough’s charity tea party and helping at the Child Contact Centre supporting separated families.
On the Tuesday of volunteer week Andrew is asking the public to become part of his Volunteer Week in a spring clean of Harrogate. Andrew’s team will be leading a litter pick, graffiti blitz and roadsign cleaning expedition around Harrogate to give the town a real spring clean.
The public can help in two ways:
By volunteering to help by emailing andrew.jones.mp@parliament.uk or calling 01423 529614. All equipment will be supplied.
By letting Andrew know of any litter hotpsots, graffiti on public property or dirty road signs.
Andrew Jones MP
Andrew Jones said:
This is a really important week because it gives me a chance to promote the value of volunteering in the community.
Voluntary work benefits the organisation where the volunteer works and also the volunteer themselves.
Volunteers acquire new skills, make new friends and help keep our community vibrant and healthy.
And this Volunteer Week is different because I want to include the public. Tuesday 24 September is the day we are going to spring clean Harrogate. The Council do a great job with limited resources but they can’t always reach those areas with recurrent litter or graffiti problems. So I want a team of volunteers to give them a hand and do a couple of hours work to spruce up our area.
Andrew will be keeping a blog during the week so people can see what he has been doing in real-time and learn more about the charity or organisation for which he has been volunteering.
