Posted on December 2, 2011 by Phillip Lee

This month I had a flavour of the ‘Big Society’ as I had the honour of attending the Wokingham Without & Crowthorne Parishes’ awards for voluntary service at the community at the Pinewood Centre. The event was staged to recognise individuals and groups working voluntarily from within both parishes. I am very pleased to have such deserving and hard working individuals and groups in my constituency and congratulate the much deserved winners and nominees for their good work.

Besides the fact that volunteering brings communities closer together and can be good fun, I strongly believe that voluntary work for the good of our community improves our quality of life. The concept which involves looking “out” for our local communities rather than “up” to central government is something that makes a real difference to our society. That is why I am very pleased to see the Government’s plans to make volunteering easier by cutting red tape and more rewarding through volunteering credits (and possibly tax discounts). By making funding available for organisations through the Big Society bank, the government is allowing local people to benefit their communities. The aim is to create a climate that empowers local people and communities. Taking power away from national politicians and giving it back to the local people is one of the central themes of the Coalition government.

The latest national information shows that the voluntary and community sector – defined as giving unpaid help through group, clubs and organisations to benefit other people or the environment – has an income of more than £157 billion. Its work force is a sizeable 765,000 but the number who volunteer is a staggering 25 per cent of our community who take part in formal volunteering at least once a month and 39 per cent at least once a year.

One of the best examples in my constituency is the superb Pinewood Centre, the home of several indoor and outdoor activity clubs for all ages. Volunteers in this area are doing a great job in making our local community better off by helping people engage in entrepreneurial and sporting activities that will benefit local people and businesses.

By visiting places like the Pinewood Centre, Members of Parliament gain insight into many good works in their constituencies. We get to observe some of the finer instincts of members of our communities. A typical MP’s diary will reveal visits to many organisations, charities and clubs and meetings with people involved in some of the most selfless activities. These efforts all too rarely command national and local headlines, which is one of the reasons why I was so pleased to attend the Awards ceremony last week.

(Published in the Wokingham Times, November 2011)