With 1,500 charities to choose from, people can get involved in the Big Help Out project in tribute to the King’s decades of public service.
A “one-stop shop” for thousands of volunteer opportunities has been established in advance of the Big Help Out initiative on the Coronation bank holiday.
Over 1,500 of Britain’s leading charities, including the Scouts, Royal Voluntary Service, and the RSPCA, have launched a new app to commemorate the King’s Coronation.
On May 8, members of the public can sign up to volunteer in their communities alongside senior members of the Royal family, who are expected to participate in the day’s activities.
“This is about more than one day,” Scouts chief executive Matt Hyde told The Telegraph, adding, “this is about a legacy of volunteering in this country.”
The Big Help Out scheme is a formal part of the King’s Coronation celebrations, created in collaboration with the country’s top charities to honor King Charles’ many decades of public service and planned with the “incredible support” of Buckingham Palace.
“It aligns so much with what the royal households are passionate about and the causes that they have supported themselves for so many years,” Mr. Hyde said.
“As a result, they are linked to many of the organizations that have been involved in shaping the Big Help Out.”
Ellie Simmonds, a volunteer for the Scouts, described the new app as a “one-stop shop for hundreds of thousands of volunteering opportunities across the country”.
“It’s all in one place, and it’s easy to search to suit you – your interests and organizations you want to support in your local area,” she explained.
With only 50 days until the bank holiday, it has been launched so that people can search for volunteering opportunities using their postcode, the type of activity they want to do, and the organization with which they want to work.
Hundreds of thousands more activities are expected to be added to the app in the days leading up to the event.
On May 8, charities will also open their doors to the general public to host taster sessions, including a day of pop-up “scouting” – such as making fires and climbing – and the opportunity to clean rivers and waterways with the help of volunteers.
For example, the National Literacy Trust will recruit 10,000 literary champions to read to a child in person or over the phone and will collaborate with celebrity authors in literacy hub communities across the country.
The taster sessions and volunteering opportunities are intended to encourage people to sign up again in the future, resulting in a long-term volunteering legacy from the Coronation weekend.
Volunteering is ‘good for your well-being
“The Big Help Out will shine a spotlight on the power of volunteering to help our communities,” said Ceremonies Minister Stuart Andrew.
“It is a tribute to His Majesty the King’s lifetime of public service and a wonderful way to begin this new age.
“I encourage everyone to participate in celebrating Their Majesties The King and The Queen Consort’s Coronation.”
Organizers also emphasized the health benefits of volunteering, with Mr. Hyde saying, “It’s good for your wellbeing, your skills, your employability, and it’s good to be part of something…to reduce isolation and loneliness.”
Huda and Alia Hathaf, sisters and Optometry students have both volunteered with the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) since the summer of 2020.
According to Huda, the experience “opened the door to so many opportunities” and that one volunteering opportunity can “greatly develop you as an individual.”
“As a young person, it’s a great honor to represent your generation and make others proud of your generation,” Alia added.
“It’s critical that younger people seize these opportunities to demonstrate to others that we can take the initiative, and these opportunities will shape our future.”
She stated that RNIB “feels like family now,” and that the skills they learned while volunteering have made them better Optometrists and people.
