Helping hands make all the difference

GRAHAM Pearson rests his pruning shears on the ground and straightens up. "They say New York has Central Park and York has York Cemetery," he says, glancing around contentedly. "It's certainly a very relaxing place, this."

Graham should know. For six years, the 55-year-old has been a volunteer at the cemetery; pruning, planting, mowing and clipping, and acting as a volunteer warden. Along with the other volunteers here, he helps make this place what it is: a haven of peace and tranquillity in the busy centre of York, and a refuge for wildlife of all kinds, including birds, squirrels and hedgehogs.

Since taking early retirement from Nestle in March, he has been putting in three full days a week. He loves the place. "It's very therapeutic," he says. "You just imagine. If you're leading a stressful life, maybe working in an office surrounded by telephones and fax machines, this is a complete break. I've met some lovely people here. The volunteers all get on very well, and often people who are visiting the cemetery like to stop and just have a quiet chat over the stones."

Graham is just one of countless thousands of people up and down the country who give up some of their own free time to do something they believe in.

Volunteers play a much more important part in keeping our society running than many people realise. In York alone, they are involved in caring for or befriending vulnerable older people; mentoring young people; proving emergency accommodation for homeless youngsters; driving patients to and from appointments; working in charity shops; and protecting the environment through work on conservation projects.

Without the unpaid work they do, says Roger Newton of the York Council for Voluntary Services, many of the most vulnerable people in our society would be incalculably worse off.

Age Concern York, for example, has 350 volunteers involved in everything from befriending older people to offering advice on benefits, helping out in the charity's shops, and manning the telephones at it Walmgate headquarters.

"They are absolutely crucial," says James Player, the charity's deputy chief officer. "I don't know what we'd do without them."

At the York Blind and Partially Sighted Society, volunteers provide company for people with visual impairments, and help out with reading and other tasks. And at the Oxfam bookshops in Petergate, Micklegate and at York Hospital they sort through the 6,000 books that come in every week, serve customers and generally keep the shops going.

Graham became a volunteer not only because he loved gardening. "There is so much take in this world these days," he says. "It is nice to give something back."

Volunteers everywhere will recognise those sentiments. But volunteering is not just about giving. Apart from the sheer satisfaction, volunteers get an awful lot back in other ways too.

For younger people, for example, it can be a great way to pick up skills that could help them break through into the career of their choice.

In many ways, says Lee Spracklen, manager of the Oxfam bookshops in York, working at one of his shops is better training than working at a High Street bookshop. His volunteers get all the front-of-counter experience they could wish for, chatting to customers and helping them find the book they are looking for.

But they also pick up a lot of administrative skills: sorting, cataloguing and pricing books, and helping to run the shop.

For people who find it difficult to meet others for whatever reason, volunteering can also be a great way of getting out and meeting people, Roger Newton says. "Whatever age group you are, it can be a brilliant way of bringing yourself out and challenging yourself to meet other people," he says.

There is still, however, a desperate shortage of volunteers - so much so that the Home Office's Active Community Directorate was formed at national level to promote volunteering.

Cynics might say that is because volunteers are increasingly doing jobs that should be done by the statutory sector.

But that may be unfair, says Roger. There is also a genuine desire on the part of government to get more people involved in community activities, and to restore a sense of community pride and citizenship.

Saturday, the Community Service Volunteers' (CSV) Make A Difference Day, is one of the great flag-waving days for volunteers. Across the country, local charities and voluntary organisations will be holding open days at which people who are interested in volunteering can come along to find out more.

There will be plenty going on in York and North Yorkshire and if you are interested in helping, see the details below.

:: What you can do this Saturday

York Cemetery, 10am to 4pm. Activities include: preparing the butterfly walk for winter, planting new plants and shrubs, pruning trees and making wildlife habitats

Woodlands charity shop, Melrosegate, York, 9.30am to 4.30pm. Helping get the shop ready for winter, by sorting, pricing and labelling stock, designing a new window display and applying a lick of paint. If you can help, call the shop on 01904 430600 before going along

Oxfam bookshop, Petergate, York, 9.30am and 5pm. Find out how you can become a volunteer in the shop, or learn more about the work of Oxfam generally.

PDSA charity shop, Goodramgate, York, 10am to 4pm. Dressing-up open day with a chance to find out how to become a volunteer.

For details of other events in the area, log onto the Community Service Volunteers website at www.csv.org.uk/difference. For more information about volunteering generally or to find out how you can help in York, contact Jan Vaughan at the Council for Voluntary Service volunteer centre in York on 01904 621133.

:: What your Evening Press is doing

THE Evening Press is about to recognise the efforts of unsung heroes in York through our Community Pride Awards.

The awards, being run in conjunction with City of York Council, have gained the personal backing of Prime Minister Tony Blair.

The 11 categories aim to recognise the efforts of ordinary people in the city who have made a difference.

People like Steven Gregson, 14, from Stockton-on-the-Forest, 13-year-old Tom Jackson, from Clifton, York, and 17-year-old Roland Rollison, from Tang Hall, who have been nominated in the Spirit of Youth category for their sporting achievements.

Or Wendy Barker, who runs Dringhouses youth caf Moly's Kitchen, and Gordon Benton, of Upper Poppleton, who has been nominated as Community Pride Person of the Year for the hours he has put in maintaining his village's village war memorial.

The finalists will be announced in the next few days.

Updated: 11:09 Thursday, October 28, 2004