A New Bank Holiday For Your Calendars?

Campaign for 'Community Day' is launched

A campaign to establish a new bank holiday dedicated to celebrating and promoting voluntary community activity – ‘Community Day – was launched this week.

Community Day will fall on 29 October, breaking the long run of 16 weeks without a holiday between August and Christmas.

Lizzie Saunders, Manager of Ealing Volunteer Centre, said: “Britain has only eight public holidays a year, compared with the European average of eleven. Community Day will celebrate the contribution that voluntary and community activity makes to the country and community cohesion. A new bank holiday will remind us of the important balance we need to maintain between our working lives and the rest of our lives. We need time to pursue our hobbies, to exercise, to learn, to get involved in our local communities and to have fun.”

News of the proposed bank holiday was revealed to more than 50 volunteers at a special awards ceremony at Ealing Community Resource Centre on 24 October to celebrate ‘Make A Difference Day’, the biggest annual celebration of volunteering in the UK.

The volunteers, ranging in age from 14-year-old Amrat Bhamra to 93-year-old Joyce Eaves, had all completed 100 hours of volunteering with voluntary groups across Ealing.

Presenting the certificates, Howard Shepherdson of the Faculty of Professional Studies at Thames Valley University, said: “This is a fantastic achievement. Everyone here today has given 100 hours of their time freely to help others – you have all helped to ‘make a difference’ to the local community in Ealing. At TVU we are aware of the growing importance of the voluntary sector and its work in supporting mainstream provision – we are very proud to have established a brand new foundation degree in collaboration with Ealing Volunteer Centre, called "Managing with Volunteers. I encourage managers – and volunteers – throughout the borough to find out more about this unique learning opportunity."

November 2, 2007