UK: National Day of Volunteering to mark King Charles’ coronation on 8 May

8 May will be the most important day of volunteering in the history of the UK. Indeed, on that day, as part of the weekend dedicated to King Charles’ coronation, hundreds of thousands of volunteers will engage in projects to help out the needy across the country. That Monday will be a bank holiday, a national feast day, where people will not work to celebrate the new King who will be crowned at Westminster Abbey on Saturday, 6 May. The opportunity was immediately seized to revive thousands of charities, many of them Catholic, who lost volunteers during the pandemic. To promote “The Big Help Out” – the name of this new initiative –, a new app was developed where those interested can find the opportunities that best fit their skills or interests. The charities involved include the Scouts, London Zoo, and the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA). New volunteer opportunities are added to the app every day, along with hundreds of thousands of activities. The charities involved in the initiative will also offer sessions where it will be possible to understand what kind of commitment volunteering entails. For instance, the National Literacy Trust, the organization fighting illiteracy in the UK, has already recruited ten thousand volunteers who will read texts to children in person or to the elderly over the phone on 8 May.
Valentina Bombelli