European Year of Volunteering 2011
2011 was the European Year of Volunteering (EYV 2011).
This was an exciting opportunity for volunteer involving organisations across the EU to join together in a celebration of volunteering, and start a discussion on the importance of volunteering on a local, national and international level.
In England, Volunteering England worked closely with other volunteering organisations and the Office for Civil Society (the UK’s National Coordinating Body for the Year) to make sure that the Year represented a real opportunity to promote volunteering.
Objectives of the Year
The EU had four main objectives:
- To create an enabling and facilitating environment for volunteering in the EU
- To empower volunteer organisations and improve the quality of volunteering
- To reward and recognise volunteering activities
- To raise awareness of the value and importance of volunteering.
Benefits
- The European Year of Volunteering 2011 enabled volunteers all over Europe to meet and learn about best practices in each European country
- Public authorities, volunteer organisations and businesses learnt more about volunteering and how to make it easier for people to contribute
- People who had never heard about volunteering learnt to appreciate what volunteers do and many became volunteers for the first time
Useful contacts
