This week we’re celebrating Volunteers’ Week

At Stonewater, we couldn’t do what we do without our engaged customers who selflessly volunteer their time with us every day.

Volunteers’ Week is a UK-wide campaign that celebrates and recognises the contributions of volunteers. It runs from 2-8 June and it’s a platform to thank volunteers for their time and skills that help build communities and improve services.

Volunteering is amazing, and it’s said:

• 2 million people in the UK have formally volunteered at least once a month
• Volunteering added £4.6 billion in productivity gains to the UK economy in 2024
• 25 million people in the UK volunteered informally at least once in the year

I don’t know about you, but I was shocked at these numbers, and the positive impact volunteering has on the UK!

The impact of Stonewater volunteers

We have over 60 hard working volunteers at Stonewater that help us to do amazing things. Over the past year, our volunteers have:

• Attended 55 formal volunteer meetings including service reviews, discussions, and board meetings
• Joined us at 21 events and workshops to share feedback and ideas with colleagues, contractors, and partners
• Reviewed 26 documents and policies to make sure they’re customer friendly and meet our customer commitments

On top of this, last year our Scrutiny Panel completed four service reviews and made 42 improvement recommendations. And we grew our Community Champions by 31 people, together they completed 130 walkabouts of their local areas! 

This is only a snapshot, and it doesn’t include all those customers who completed a mystery shop or filled in one of our surveys. These engagements run into the 1,000s.

I think we should all take a moment to thank our volunteers, but in all honesty, I don’t think we can ever thank them enough. They're always busy behind the scenes and out in the community making things better for all our customers.

Watch the video below to hear from our customers about how they volunteer, plus a big thank you from our colleagues.