Thank you, volunteers!

This week (1st to 7th June) is Volunteers’ Week, a celebration of the great work accomplished around the UK by people who donate their time. Community Wood Recycling couldn’t function without the hard work of all our volunteers, from collectors to office staff, so we want to say thank you to everyone who’s put their time into making the Community Wood Recycling network what it is.

Last year, the network took on over 600 volunteers, who collectively volunteered on 14,628 days. Even if every volunteer only worked for an average of 3 hours each day, that’s still over 40,000 hours – more than 5 solid years!

Thanks to their efforts we were able to collect around 14,000 tonnes of wood and reuse about 30% of it, with an estimated equivalent carbon saving of around 2,000 tonnes of CO2 when compared to conventional recycling.

However, we’re about more than just environmental goals. We want to make sure that both our volunteers and our staff are getting as much as possible out of working with us, which is why this year we’re aiming to have our training programme accredited by IOSH and the Open College Network, ensuring that all of our volunteers have access to industry-recognized qualifications, as well as practical work experience and any other support they need.

If you have any suggestions about how you think we could improve the quality of our volunteering opportunities, get in touch. Or, if you’re interested in volunteering, why not find your nearest enterprise and give them a call?