#GivingTuesday, the global day of giving, spanning five continents, is coming up on 1 December.
Following the frenzy of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, this growing movement, now in its second year in the UK, offers the ideal chance for us all to look at opportunities in our own lives for giving and volunteering.
And it works. Last year, through the first-ever UK #GivingTuesday, donations in the UK went up 270% on the year before.
This year, #GivingTuesday is even bigger, with over 1,100 partners, from major businesses to charities both national and local. Government is proud to lead by example in offering its support, so I’m delighted that Cabinet Office is a founding partner.
Civil Service support
In that spirit, I’d encourage you to consider how you might be able to get involved on #GivingTuesday.
The Civil Service has a fantastic history of supporting worthy causes, and I know many of you already do so much to help our civil society carry out its vital work.
For example, the Civil Service Lifeboat Fund was established by civil servants in 1866 to support the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) and has helped save 5,000 lives since the fund began.
The Civil Service leads the way in supporting its employees to volunteer, with a minimum of three days a year special paid leave for volunteering available to all civil servants.
If you haven’t already considered volunteering, why not make #GivingTuesday the moment to plan that step?
Volunteering is a great way to learn new skills and develop new experiences while doing some great work for important causes. Did you know that people who volunteer also have significantly higher levels of life satisfaction than those who don’t?
What you can do
It’s simple to get started – you can search more than a million volunteering opportunities at www.do-it.org.uk
Many departments choose a charity to support each year, or you could consider volunteering for one of our civil service charities, with roles available at The Charity for Civil Servants and the Civil Service Retirement Fellowship.
And #GivingTuesday is not just about volunteering - there’s such a range of ways people can get involved, from using the day to highlight a favourite charity and lending your voice to promote the day, to organising fundraising or donating money.
But the choice of what to do is truly yours.
If you’ve been inspired and would like to get involved with #GivingTuesday, why not post what you’re doing on Twitter with the hashtags #GivingTuesday and #OurCivilService.
#GivingTuesday is such a fantastic way for us as a nation to celebrate and encourage giving and volunteering, and I’d be delighted if you would play a part.
4 comments
Comment by Linda posted on
I am!
Comment by Steve posted on
Is anyone else having difficulty accessing Do-it.Org?
Comment by Steve Hawe posted on
Beanstalk is delighted to be part of #GivingTuesday this year and we're really looking forward to getting our volunteers involved. If anyone would like to volunteer to help a child learn to read, visit http://www.beanstalkcharity.org.uk to find out more about our work.
Comment by John posted on
Sorry, but there is no money left in my bank account even after my huge pay increase.