The Compassion Acts charity has celebrated the contribution of volunteers at a special evening in Southport.
Around 95 staff and volunteers from across the organisation gathered for a night of celebration at the Bold Hotel on Lord Street.
The organisation covers Southport and surrounding areas including Formby to the south and Banks to the north.
The charity runs various projects and activities, all focused on reducing poverty and increasing social wellbeing in order to improve the lives of people in our area.
They include Southport Foodbank, the Food Pantry, Next Steps, the Uniform Hub and others.
Organisers and volunteers are passionate about social justice, the eradication of poverty and empowerment of people.
Last year Compassion Acts facilitated over 20,500 hours of volunteering in the community. That is an incredible figure and would cost over £¼ million in real terms to employ these people at median wage.
That represents a massive amount of social value in our local economy, is a positive experience for the volunteer and of course is most importantly is transformational for the individual who is being helped.
Compassion Acts CEO Richard Owens said:
“This was such a joy to bring volunteers together from across so many different projects to reward their hard work and commitment to our values. The evening was great and a rare opportunity to encourage conversations between people in our increasing range of projects so that everyone can see how they fit together.”
In the last few years, the charity has grown to include a Uniform Hub, more food pantries, work with Ukrainian refugees, Warm Spaces and family projects such as holiday clubs.
It means that 211 volunteers were active in 2022.
Compassion Acts would like to thank Bloomcare Ltd and MCS Group for their sponsorship and making this event possible.
Would you like to volunteer with Compassion Acts? Please visit their website here.
Current vacancies include:
– Uniform Hub Volunteer
– Welfare Benefits Advisor
– Administration Assistant
– Trustee
The Award runners-up and winners were:
Hope Award – Recognising someone who is committed to ensuring a brighter future for the people we support and our community as a whole.
Runners Up: David, Andrea, Joyce
Winner: Mike
Action Award – Recognising someone who puts their positive beliefs into action every day and strives to inspire others to do the same.
Runners Up: Nicola, Adam, Megan
Winner: Margaret
Unity Award – Recognising someone who brings people from different backgrounds together, showing that the strength of a team is far greater than the sum of its parts.
Runners Up: Peter, Gill, Family Space Birkdale Team
Winner: Ken
Respect Award – Recognising someone who shows compassion above all else and places dignity at the heart of all they do.
Runners Up: Rosie, Maria, Geraldine
Winner: Lilian
Special Achievement Award
Winner: Colin
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