Suffolk youth charity says volunteers help it focus resources on supporting young people
Workers from Sizewell C have contributed almost 800 hours of volunteering across Suffolk over the past year
A Suffolk youth charity says support from volunteers is helping it direct more of its funding towards children and young people rather than maintaining its buildings.
The comments come as Sizewell C marks National Volunteers' Week by celebrating almost 800 hours of volunteering carried out by its workforce over the past year.
More than 170 workers from the nuclear power project have volunteered in local communities, supporting charities, schools and community organisations across Suffolk.
One organisation to benefit is Inspire, which supports young people across the county through wellbeing services, employment support, sports activities and youth programmes.
A lifeline for the organisation
Danielle Wright, Head of Operations at Inspire, said volunteers make a significant difference by helping with maintenance and improvement projects that the charity would otherwise struggle to prioritise.
She said: "Any resources that we then spend on our buildings limit the amount of money that we can then spend on the work we do with children and young people."
Recent projects have included volunteers helping to repaint and improve facilities used by young people.
Ms Wright said having groups of volunteers complete jobs in a single day saved both time and money for the charity.
"If we've got a group of 10, 20 volunteers that are able to do that in one day, that actually might sit on our to-do list for quite some time," she said.
She described volunteers as "absolutely" a lifeline for the organisation.
"Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, and the more volunteers that we can have, the better," she said.
Helping young people into work
As well as helping maintain facilities, Inspire works with organisations including Sizewell C to create opportunities for young people to explore future careers and employment.
Ms Wright said first jobs and work experience opportunities remained vital for building confidence and skills.
"If we are not providing those opportunities for them now to try something new and to gain experience, how are they going to be able to be that working person of tomorrow?" she said.
She also urged people not to make assumptions about young people who are not currently in education, employment or training.
"Just because they may currently not be engaged in employment or education does not mean that they do not want to do it. It does not mean that they are lazy," she said.
Sizewell C says its workforce has contributed almost 800 volunteer hours over the past year, with staff given up to 15 hours of paid volunteering time annually to support community projects across Suffolk.