A coalition of 30 charities will hold a “festival of volunteering” later this year to mark the coronation of King Charles III, it has been announced.
The Big Help Out will take place on 8 May, the final day of the coronation long weekend, with hundreds of events planned across the UK to highlight the importance of volunteering.
Charities already signed up to the event include the NSPCC, National Trust, Stroke Association and Age UK, with more invited to join the initiative.
Charles III is being crowned on Saturday 6 May, with celebratory events to be held across the weekend.
The Big Help Out is being organised by the Together Coalition, which has previously arranged national events to thank NHS staff during the pandemic and to encourage shopping at small businesses. Further details of the events are expected in March.
Jon Knight, chief executive of the Together Coalition, said: “The Big Help Out is going to be a festival of volunteering, a day when people up and down the country will roll up their sleeves and do their bit.
“In the run-up to the day we’ll also be launching new ways of getting involved in volunteering in your community. The aim is to create a legacy of better-connected communities long beyond the coronation itself.”
The National Council for Voluntary Organisations, which has been involved in setting up the Big Help Out, said the events could encourage “people who may not see volunteering as something that is for them” to get involved with local charities.
Sarah Vibert, chief executive of the NCVO, said: “This campaign comes at a time of increasing pressure for the voluntary sector, with NCVO members reporting growing demand for services, falling income and big challenges with volunteer recruitment and retention.
“The cost-of-living crisis has made volunteer recruitment even more difficult. Our data shows that people from the most deprived areas are already 50 per cent less likely to formally volunteer than those from the least deprived areas.
“Often, paying for public transport and fuel expenses to commute to volunteer can be a barrier as household budgets become tighter and increasingly people are having to reduce or give up volunteering to take on more paid work.”
Vibert said smaller charities are the most likely to struggle with finding and keeping volunteers at the moment, adding: “We are therefore really focusing our efforts on helping smaller organisations take part in this campaign so they can realise the benefits of this national drive.”