Local MP Maria Miller is marking Volunteers’ Week 2013 by expressing her support for the many volunteers working in Basingstoke.

Volunteers’Week, which is taking place from 1-7 June, is run by the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) and celebrates the work of millions of volunteers across the country who give up their time to help others. Locally, Basingstoke Voluntary Services organised its annual Volunteer Awareness Day on 5 June, at Castle Square in the town centre’s Malls, to coincide with Volunteers’ Week.

Maria said: “Volunteers’ Week is a great opportunity for us to recognise and applaud the fantastic contribution that volunteers make to our community. We are really lucky in Basingstoke in having so many wonderful volunteers who give their time and energy in many different ways. They are the lifeblood of a wide range of organisations in the town and, without them, many of the services that we take for granted would just not exist.”