Published Thursday 9 June 2022 at 12:00
A Volunteer celebration was held at King George’s Hall to give thanks to all the unsung heroes in the borough who dedicate their lives to their communities.
It was part of Volunteer’s Week, and saw over 100 people attend to enjoy the wonderful Volunteer Celebration.
The Council have over 2,000 volunteers that support the delivery of Council services every day, so the special event was held for the Council to say a huge thank you to all the people who help day in day out.
The Mayor of Blackburn with Darwen Council, Suleman Khonat, joined Cllr Phil Riley, the Leader of the Council, and Chief Executive Denise Park to take the opportunity to give personal thanks to all the volunteers.
The event was opened by Kalise Nicholson, a talented young singer from Blackburn Youth Zone, who entertained the guests at the celebration.
Cllr Riley said:
I just want to say thank you to all the volunteers for everything that they add to our borough. They do wonderful pieces of work that, listening to some of the stories, obviously enrich the volunteers themselves, but it also makes the borough a much better place and a much stronger place.
Collectively we can do so much more together than we can do on our own – so everything that you do just adds value and thank you for doing it.
Sammy, a Darwen Valley Community Centre Volunteer, said:
I have never been surrounded by so many amazing people under one roof before. Volunteering is not just volunteering it’s a community of people who go out of their way each day to make their communities a better place to live. What a community it is to be a part of. I am so incredibly proud of every single volunteer. I have met the most amazing inspirational people
Susie B, Environment volunteer, said:
I had a lovely afternoon with a great community in King Georges Hall yesterday. Thank you for including me it was informative entertaining delicious and humbling in equal measures. Thoroughly enjoyed.
Rizwana Zaahid, Manager of Volunteering for the Council added:
A huge thank you to all the volunteers who came to the event, there was a great energy in the room and everyone got the chance to meet someone new! My thanks go to my wonderful team, in particular Sabiha Patel and Imran Hajat, who worked tirelessly to make this event possible! Also thank to the King George’s Hall team, a very special venue
If you are interested in Volunteering, the Council has a range of volunteering opportunities available through our Lancashire Volunteer Partnership, please visit the website: https://lancsvp.org.uk/ or call the team on (01254) 666483.