Wisbech volunteers with time on their hands

Volunteers at the Orchards C of E Primary School in Wisbech have amassed 1,000 hours in volunteering time as part of a brand new scheme, Cambridgeshire Time Credits.

Mandy Freear, the volunteer who earned the thousandth hour, was surprised by staff with flowers as the member who helped the school reach this milestone.

The ground-breaking Cambridgeshire Time Credits, launched last November, enables volunteers to help their community by giving time to projects and organisations and, as a thank you, receive time credits.

These can be used to access events, training and leisure services, or to trade time with neighbours, such as The Light Cinema, Elgood’s Gardens and New Vision Fitness Centre.

Overall, 171 volunteers in Wisbech have earned more than 2,000 Time Credits whilst helping their local community, including window cleaning, supporting sessions at the local youth club, maintenance and reading clubs .

The programme is being run by Spice, a social enterprise, and is funded by Cambridgeshire County Council and the CHS Group. The Children’s Centres in Wisbech are also taking part in the scheme. Members organised a bingo event at the Queen Mary Centre in Wisbech to help bring the community together and to offer an opportunity for members to spend their credits.

Mandy Freear, who volunteers at the Orchard C of E Primary School, said: “I was stunned and honoured to be the Time Credit volunteer to have completed the 1,000th hour at Orchards School. I don’t count the hours I volunteer, I just like helping the children.

“More importantly, Orchards School has now received over 1,000 hours of help from all the Time Credit Volunteers – that’s brilliant!’

For more information about Cambridgeshire Time Credits contact Annie Moulds on anniemoulds@justaddspice.org or call 07429 438383.