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Charities hold successful recruitment drive

Charities Fair 2017 ( Photo John Bugeja) 10-11-17 at Boyd's organized by the Gibraltar Advice Bureau. The aim was for the different Charities to showcase their work and recruit prospective volunteers.

Over 20 local charities came together for a recruitment open day organised by the Gibraltar Citizens Advice Bureau last week.

The aim of the day was to increase awareness for the charities and invited prospective volunteers the opportunity to learn more about the charities before making their decision.

Bureau Manager Pili Rodriguez was pleased the event had turned out to be so successful especially among young people.

“I knew that the community was going to bend over backwards to do this because we’re a very charitable community,” said Ms Rodriguez.

“I am impressed not only because of the turnout but also because the charities have been able to complement each other.”
CAB invited some schools, leading to a very good turnout of young people.

“They have been very enthusiastic, very eager and willing to volunteer,” she said.

The event held at the Leisure Centre was attended by charities such as the Gibraltar Samaritans, the Alameda Wildlife Conversation Park, Scouts, Girl guides and the Dyslexia Support Group.

“It has been really busy and we have been really delighted to see so many young people here,” said Childline Chairwoman Jo Abergel.

“We are trying to recruit some teenage volunteers to help on our helpline and to do some fundraising. We are a young person’s organisation so we are trying to include young people.”

Helpline volunteers must be aged 18 and over, but there is no age limit for other voluntary services such as fundraising.
“It has been a lovely chance for us to network with other charities,” said Mrs Abergel.

Giovi Vinales and Myra Zayas were manning the Cancer Research stall and said they had received positive feedback from the public.

“It has been really successful, we didn’t know what to expect because this is the first time something like this has been organised, but the response has been very good,” said Ms Vinales.

“We are trying to increase our volunteer database for our events. People can come and help out and this gives them an idea of our events.”

For St John’s ambulance the real challenge would be retention of the new volunteers.

Deputy Commissioner George Payas said the charity had received quite a number of queries from the public.

“We are glad that this fair has happened, for us it has been successful and let’s see what happens,” said Mr Payas.

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