A time to say thanks. 1-7 June. Find out more. Volunteers' week.

The 1st June marks Volunteers' Week in the UK. You may know that the origin of the word ‘volunteer’ is from the Latin word ‘voluntarius’ which means ‘willing’ or ‘of one's own choice’. The choice that volunteers make to give up their time and skills, willingly, is humbling. Nehemiah volunteers come from a diverse community which includes a range of backgrounds and profiles, thus adding to the vibrant Nehemiah community and enabling us all to learn from each other.

Nehemiah volunteers have helped us to beautify our gardens, alongside our Residents, to refurbish our homes and to serve as translators for our Residents for whom English is a second language. And this is just the start as we plan to expand and develop our volunteering programme this year.

We are so hugely grateful to all of our volunteers who have helped us, particularly when we needed their support the most. Last September we hosted a Graduation Ceremony for some of our Residents who were moving on to semi-independent living, and we needed extra support in pruning, weeding and tidying our Streatham house garden, before the Ceremony. We wouldn’t have met the tight deadline without our wonderful volunteers, particularly those from The Order of Malta.

A big thank you to all of our past, present and future volunteers, and happy Volunteers' Week to you all!

Written by Alexandra Hanratty, Project Co-Ordinator at The Nehemiah Project