Voluntary Action Shetland (VAS) are delighted to announce the launch of the 2024 VAS Volunteering Awards, the second year of our awards to recognise the amazing volunteering and acts of kindness happening throughout the Shetland Islands.
The awards consist of two categories, the ‘Willin Haands Award’ for adults aged 26 and over, and the ‘Peerie Trows Award’ for children 11 and under.
The awards will be complementing the national Saltire Awards scheme, which VAS deliver annually to recognise young people aged 12 to 25.
The aim of the VAS Volunteering Awards is to recognise and celebrate Shetland’s many willing helpers and volunteers of all ages who help out and volunteer in their communities the length and breadth of Shetland. Both formal and informal volunteering are recognised in this award with the latter often being overlooked, even by the volunteers themselves. Informal volunteering can be a host of tasks such as providing home-bakes for fundraisers/teas, helping a neighbour in need, litter picking
or other ways of supporting the community without formally being involved with an organisation.
The VAS Volunteering Awards (VAS-VAs) are nomination-based, anyone can nominate (whether they are an individual or an organisation) someone, adult or child who volunteers or has volunteered. Please read the nomination guidelines before nominating someone for the awards.
Do you know anyone who deserves a thank you for helping out in their community, someone who quietly helps other folk, someone who helps at community events, volunteers with an organisation, a community stalwart? If you would like to say thank you or recognise someone for all their efforts then complete a nomination form.
The nominations open on Wednesday 28th August and close September 15th. To nominate, folk can fill in the online form or contact VAS Volunteering for a paper format.
Awardees will receive a certificate and their volunteering stories will be celebrated on the Voluntary Action Shetland social media channels and a summary shared with the local press. Interested to find out more about last year's recipients? Have a look here.
For more information, please contact our VAS Volunteering team.
