Extra Help During Volunteers' Week

MPs and Councillors give a hand in Merton

Local councillors and MPs will be among those helping charities in Merton during Volunteers' Week, which runs from June 1-7.

Mayor of Merton Coucillor Gilli Lewis-LavenderMayor of Merton Coucillor Gilli Lewis-Lavender (left), will be one of those marking the contribution many residents make in Merton through volunteering.

She will be volunteering at Deen City Farm in South Wimbledon on June 3 when she will help out as a "washer upper". Then on June 8 she will assist at Merton Vision in Colliers Wood, which provides support for residents with a visual impairment.

Mitcham and Morden MP, Siobhain McDonagh, will be lending a hand at  Commonside Community Development Trust. Stephen Hammond, MP for Wimbledon, will be delivering books to 104 years old Doris Jackaman, for Volunteer Centre Merton’s Home Visits Library Service. 

Other councillors who will be volunteering during the week include:

  • June 2 - Councillor Maurice Groves (Lower Morden ward) will assist with the job club at Commonside Development Community Trust
  • Date TBC - Councillor Logie Lohendran (Cannon Hill) will be a Transport Assistant at St Raphael's Hospice
  • June 3 - Councillor Krystal Miller (Trinity) will be a "gate clicker" at Deen City Farm
  • June 6 - Councilllor Suzanne Evans (Hillside) will be helping out in the café at Commonside Development Community Trust
  • June 7 - Councillor Oonagh Moulton and Cllr Chris Edge, Deputy Mayor, will shadow a volunteer at Wimbledon Magistrates Court Witness Service.

Volunteers Week brings an annual focus on the huge contribution volunteers make to society.   Volunteer Centre Merton (VCM) estimates that there are 45,000 volunteers in Merton, over 33% of the adult population, compared to a national average of 25%.

Sarah Hannigan, recruitment manager at VCM, says that one of the reasons Merton’s volunteering culture is so strong is a result of the diversity of the borough and the close collaboration between the voluntary sector and Merton Council.

May 26, 2011