Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ

If you're aged 16 to 25 and want to do something amazing then Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio Leeds' Louise Rigg wants to hear from you!

20 full time Volunteer Agents for Change have been placed around the country and Louise is the agent for West Yorkshire, based at Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Leeds. Louise's mission (which she has chosen to accept!) is to get 300 young people aged between 16-25 to volunteer in their community doing...... anything!ΜύThe role of the agent is to be as creative as possible to achieve their target, making the volunteering opportunities as exciting as possible.

How you can get involved - Louise is planning several regeneration projects and community clean ups which you can get involved in, along with fun runs and campaigns to raise awareness for issues such as drink-spiking and contraception awareness She will be doing this through band gigs and educational projects making use ofΜύdrama and film. If this interests you, let her know!

Angels for Angels - The week before Christmas saw the launch of the Angels for Angels campaign. Louise teamed up with Sure Start centres around Leeds and encouraged young parents from mother and toddler groups to volunteer their time to make craft angels and snowmen with their children. These craft angels were then donated to children in hospitals over the Christmas period.

CSV Agent for Change - Louise Rigg

Young people are targeted as they are seen as the hardest to motivate when voluntary work is involved, but many fail to realize they volunteer everyday. Louise explains: "The word volunteering to young people has a bad reputation it is seen as doing something for free and without reward, It is my job to help young people realize that sharing a skill, putting on a free gig or making an educational film are all ways of volunteering. There are many ingenious ways to volunteer by donating a skill or simply through donating time. Over the next few months I aim to make volunteering for the young people of West Yorkshire creative and exciting."

Why volunteer? Volunteering is not only a useful way of directly benefiting your community, It also looks great on a CV or job application. It is a fun way of gaining experience in your chosen career (eg. social work, youth and childcare) and it is fun and always appreciated!

Do you need volunteers? Would like to raise awareness about something you care about? Do you know of a local event that needs our support? Would like to organise a campaign at your school but need a little help, or maybe you just want to volunteer yourself? Your agent wants to hear from you!

To find out more contact Louise on 0845 300 98 98 or...