volunteering
Positive local stories, useful developments and people making a difference in volunteering.
Families invited to plant 8,500 bulbs across Darlington parks this half-term
Free planting sessions will add spring colour around more than 100 trees while supporting pollinators and community pride.
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Volunteering helps refugee medic rebuild his healthcare career in Stockton
Ahmed Bakheet has returned to clinical work after a University Hospital of North Tees volunteering programme helped him rebuild confidence, NHS experience and professional connections.
Hartlepool celebrates young people building skills through supported internships and volunteering
Young people from Hartlepool have been recognised for their achievements through supported internships and community volunteering, with an awards celebration highlighting growing confidence, workplace skills and contribution to the town.
College staff swap the day job for a 60-mile Tour de Tees and community volunteering
Staff from colleges across the Tees Valley spent a day cycling, litter-picking, gardening, repairing clothes and improving community spaces as part of Education Training Collective’s annual Time for Tees volunteering campaign.
The quiet return on kindness: why helping other people can help us too
Across Teesside, thousands of hours are given freely to community projects every year. Research suggests those acts of help may benefit the people giving them too, although the science is more nuanced than the slogans.
Stockton friends find a new sense of purpose together as North Tees hospital volunteers
Former colleagues Jackie Kendall and Jean Scott have reunited in retirement as volunteer hospital welcomers, and are encouraging others to give volunteering a try.
Middlesbrough drop-in supports up to 80 people each week
A weekly Salvation Army drop-in in Middlesbrough is bringing food, clothing, healthcare access, advice and company together under one roof for up to 80 people at a time.
Joe and Carol turn recovery from psychosis into hope for others
Two Redcar and Cleveland volunteers are using their own experiences of psychosis to lead a weekly peer-support group where connection, understanding and ordinary moments matter.
North Tees patients turn two years of creativity into gifts that fund future activities
Patients and volunteers at University Hospital of North Tees have turned two years of creative work into products that will help fund future patient activities.