Stronger communities, stronger you.

Congratulations to all of our shortlisters, runners up and winners at the inaugural VIPK awards, 2026! Long Standing Volunteer Asifa Mukhtar - Volunteer - Perthshire Welfare Society Cathy Clifford - Active Schools Volunteer - Live Active Leisure Cristina Wilkie - Senior Volunteer - Perthshire Welfare Society Deirdre Joy - Volunteer Mentor - MCR Pathways Jamie Barrett - Charity Shop Retail Volunteer - CATH Malik Rashid - Founding Member - Perthshire Welfare Society Runner Up: Liz Brown - Various Roles over the years - CHAS Winner: Jean Hendry - Benefit Advisor - Perth Citizens Advice Bureau Board Member/Trustee Edna Lilley - Admin/Reception - Perthshire Welfare Society Jennie Godfrey - Organiser - Perthshire Welfare Society Winner: Wilma Martin - Chair - Strathearn Building Bridges Environmental Volunteer Runner Up: Margaret Lear - Perthshire Seed Library Volunteer - CulturePK Winner: Muriel Harvey - swap shop volunteer - Letham Climate Challenge Youth Volunteer Runner Up: Cammie Sellars - Crook Youth Club/Youth Voice - KYTHE Winner: Lucy Cross - Gymnastics Coach / School Sport Ambassador - Live Active Leisure Innovative Volunteer Fiona Wellstood- Lead Tea Dance Volunteer- Strathearn Arts Volunteer Manager Janice Paterson - Recovery and Development Manager - The Walled Garden and Wisecraft (PKAVS) A big thank you to everyone who nominated these amazing people and to everyone who came to celebrate with us on the night!

This week the Third Sector Interface (TSI) welcomed guests to attend the inaugural volunteer awards for Perth and Kinross - the VIPK's! 2026 is the UN year of the volunteer and we chose to celebrate PK’s exceptional volunteers with a gala awards ceremony. Wednesday night saw a wonderful community of volunteers, volunteer managers and their supporters come together to celebrate all things volunteering! Held at the Perth Art Gallery and Museum, the VIPK gala was an awards ceremony which invited shortlisted nominees to receive their awards, enjoy some light refreshments and get together with like minded people. There was even a raffle held by two Youth Volunteers from YMCA Tayside to support their trip to Munich this August. As it is the United Nations Year of the Volunteer (IVY2026), we at the TSI thought that now was the perfect time to celebrate the amazing contribution made by volunteers across our communities. What better way to honour these outstanding contributors than with a round of awards and a celebratory gala in their name. To begin with, nominations were made in eight categories – Youth Volunteer, Environmental Volunteer, Employer Supported Volunteers (ESV) volunteer(s), Group volunteers (Non ESV), Long standing volunteer, Innovative volunteer, Volunteer Manager, Board member/trustee. Nominations took the form of two minute videos expressing why the proposer chose to nominate the individual or group for the award. Winners were shortlisted, judged and announced at the award ceremony during the Gala at the Perth Art Gallery and Museum. We were pleased to invite several special guests including Council Leader, Councillor Eric Drysdale, to celebrate the amazing people from across Perth and Kinross who give their time and energy freely to our communities making our communities stronger everyday. Overall, it was an uplifting and enjoyable event which has us already excited for next year!

New to volunteering? Don't know where to start? The University of Leeds has joined forces with over 30 local organisations to develop an online course for volunteers – which is now available absolutely free. Essential Skills for Volunteers is an open access course aimed at existing volunteers and anyone who may be considering volunteering but doesn’t know where to start. Learners who complete the course will receive two digital badges - Volunteer Explorer and Volunteer Skills Builder. Essential Skills for Volunteers will cover four key topics: Confidence building Teamwork and communication Safeguarding (developed with support from NSPCC and Childline) Equity, Diversity and Inclusion The course takes just two and a half hours to complete and can be done in multiple sittings.