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Leonard Cheshire Disability and the Volunteer Development Agency have launched two new guides that will motivate more people with disabilities to get involved in volunteering.
Research commissioned by the Volunteer Development Agency found that out of 600,000 volunteers in Northern Ireland only three per cent have a disability.
Discrimination, lack of financial support and accessibility issues are just some of the barriers faced by disabled people when looking for volunteering opportunities.
Leonard Cheshire Disability developed the free guides together with the Volunteer Development Agency. Tapping into Untapped Resources includes practical advice for organisations about involving disabled people as volunteers, and Just Go For It is designed to inspire local disabled people to get involved in volunteering and things people should think about when considering a volunteer role.
Roisin Foster, Regional Director for Leonard Cheshire Disability in Northern Ireland, said:
One in five adults in Northern Ireland have some degree of disability. And disabled people are one of the least represented volunteering groups - we cannot afford to waste their untapped skills, talents and enthusiasm.”
Siún O’Connor lives at Leonard Cheshire Disability’s supported living service in Belfast. She has volunteered as a youth worker with Forthspring Intercommunity Group. She said:
Volunteering has widened my horizons and allowed me to meet people from different backgrounds, who I may not have met otherwise. It has been a fun experience and it is rewarding to see the difference that I can make in someone else’s life through volunteering”.
Tapping into Untapped Resources and Just Go For It can be downloaded from: www.LCDisability.org or www.volunteering-ni.org.
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