Celebrating National Volunteers’ Week! 

Happy National Volunteers’ Week from all of us at BDP!  

This week provides us with the opportunity to celebrate the outstanding contributions that volunteers make to services and communities around the UK.  

Here at BDP, we’re proud to have recruited hundreds of amazing volunteers over the last 31 years. Their contribution to our service is instrumental; we couldn’t do what we do without them. 

We want to take this opportunity, in honour of Volunteers’ Week, to reflect upon and celebrate the diversity, curiosity and dedication our volunteers bring to BDP. Their unwavering commitment to our organisation and what it offers truly reflects BDP’s advocacy for inclusion, commitment and acceptance of our service users, staff, and of course volunteers.  

Our volunteers make such a valuable contribution to BDP, and in turn, get the chance to make further valuable contributions to Bristol at large, and some of the city’s most marginalised communities.  

“Having a volunteer help me with the Wet Clinic has been such a lifeline! One example that springs to mind is when they helped a service user with their PIP, our volunteer was so engaging and supportive, they dealt with the situation with such understanding and empathy, it was very evident the positive impact they made on that service user’s experience! Having them there also provides me with more capacity to help others, which is always really helpful!” – Jodi Dowse-Packham, Early Intervention and Engagement Worker. 

Our volunteers bring so much to our organisation and we are passionate about them getting as much out of the experience as possible. Our volunteer training program is incredibly comprehensive and we often have volunteers go on to paid jobs within BDP and other drug and alcohol services in the city and beyond. In our recent volunteer satisfaction survey our training was given 4 to 5 out of 5 by 100% of the people asked with 86% percent giving top marks!

BDP’s gratitude towards our volunteers extends across the entire organisation, everyone at BDP benefits from the hard work they commit to our service and its users. 

“I want to thank all of our volunteers for all they bring to BDP.  They are truly valued and bring so much more than just an extra pair of hands as each of them has a unique perspective and background that works towards further enriching our services.  Thank you for the time you give, all of your skills and commitment and I hope you find it as rewarding as we do. One of my favourite things is when volunteers get jobs with us!” – Anna Smith, CEO. 

If you’d like to find out more about how to join our team and become a BDP volunteer, follow this link to apply!