Down District Volunteer Centre

Our aims

Our Mission:
The Centre will promote volunteering throughout the district by working with individuals and communities to create and sustain voluntary opportunities for the benefit of all.

The Centre subscribes to the following definition of volunteering:
“Volunteering is the commitment of time and energy for the benefit of society and the community; the environment; or individuals outside one’s immediate family. It is undertaken freely and by choice, without concern for financial gain.”

The value base on which Down District Volunteer Centre aims to build is that:
 volunteering is a valuable and integral part of society and as such volunteers deserve support and recognition;
 volunteers assist in effecting social change and improving the quality of life and play an essential part in alleviating the effects of poverty, ignorance, inequality and injustice;
 volunteering is a matter of free choice and there can be no compulsion to become a volunteer;
 everyone has the right to volunteer without experiencing discrimination;
 involving volunteers should complement rather than substitute for the work of paid staff.

The key aims of Down District Volunteer Centre are to:
 enable a person to do voluntary work if they so wish;
 promote, support and develop activities which involve volunteers, particularly in their local areas;
 give priority to the needs of the volunteer;
 promote good volunteering practice in local voluntary activity;
 reflect the diversity of the community it serves.