This week is National Volunteers Week 2021 (1-7 June) It’s a celebration to say ‘thank you’ for the hard work of the millions of people who volunteer around the country. It’s estimated that nearly 1 in 4 adults do some sort of volunteering each month, and over half of us help others informally. I find it heart warming that so many of us want to help out. As parents, life can feel non-stop, but volunteering includes the little things that we do in everyday life, like stopping for a regular chat with a housebound neighbour, looking after a friend’s child, doing a litter pick in your local area or choosing to buy from a company that donates to charity.
Over the last year, many more of us have stepped up too, to help in the Covid effort, with many becoming food bank volunteers or going shopping for people who are isolating. I love the idea that if we all chip in, we can help. We can do what we are able to – which might be a lot, or a little, and we’re all making life better. Small actions count, just as much as the bigger actions.
“Everyone can do simple things to make a difference, and every little bit really does count.”
― Stella McCartney
This National Volunteers Week we are celebrating the volunteer reading helpers of Coram Beanstalk Picture credit Coram Beanstalk
As a small business, we’re doing what we can too, and that’s why we’ve been supporting Coram Beanstalk for many years, to help them place reading volunteers in schools and help children who have fallen behind with their reading. It’s a simple but magical idea – reading volunteers come into school to read one to one with children and find books for them that match their interests to help them fall in love with reading. We donate to Coram Beanstalk with every purchase you make in our online store.
I’ve always wanted Tidy Books to be part of the community where we are based in Walthamstow, East London, and our volunteering effort includes donating a bookcase or a book box to local community centres or the children’s wards at the local hospital. In 2020 we donated and recycled some of our unused business computers to a local school, making sure that kids who didn’t own a computer could do their homework. We take our inspiration from the creative spirit around us in Walthamstow, and it’s Tidy Books’ way of giving back.
This National Volunteers Week, we are celebrating the Beanstalk reading helpers – they are the ones who are helping our children love books and reading – and sharing the volunteer’s stories over on our Instagram and Facebook pages. Coram Beanstalk are also recruiting for reading helpers, so if you’re looking for a volunteer opportunity to help the world of books open up to another child, get in touch with them here.
