Volunteers Week 2026

Volunteers treated to a day of history as a thank you for their dedication and generosity 

VOLUNTEERS were treated to a trip to an historic fort and a private cinema showing as a way to say thank you for giving up their time to help others. 
Community Voluntary Services Tendring (CVST) hosted the special thank you day as part of Volunteers Week 2026, which runs from June 1 to June 7.
The charity invited its 190 active volunteers, who support events and groups across Clacton, Jaywick, Walton, Harwich and Manningtree, to the special occasion on Tuesday, June 2.
Community buses, funded by Grassroots, were on hand to help those who needed travel to The Redoubt Fort in Harwich where volunteers were given guided tours of the historic 180ft diameter circular fort built in 1808 to defend the port of Harwich against a Napoleonic invasion.
After a picnic lunch at the fort, volunteers went over to the Electric Palace Cinema, one of the oldest surviving purpose-built cinemas opened in 1911.  A private screening of The Boat That Rocked was donated to CVST for the thank you event by the Harwich Haven Authority.

Tracy Lawrie, CVST’s communities manager, said: “What a brilliant day and an incredible way to show just how valued our volunteers are.  It’s not an exaggeration to say we just couldn’t do what we do for the community without our volunteers.  They give up their time to help others, whether that is by helping at special events, becoming walk leaders to run weekly walks, or regularly supporting craft groups or friendship groups.  We also have volunteers at our community garden, allotment, Men’s Shed, dementia café and more.

Volunteers share their skills and their time and give so much to the community – for us at CVST every year during Volunteers Week we like to find a way to say thank you for that.  This year’s trip to Harwich was so much fun and all the volunteers were so impressed with the Redoubt Fort and enjoyed the film.  Thank you so much to the Harwich Society for the tour, Grassroots for the funding, and the Harwich Haven Authority for the cinema screening.  We are the Harwich Haven Authority’s charity of the year and this is the latest way they have supported us and we are so grateful.”

Linzi Jobber, Harwich Haven Authority’s sustainability manager, said: “As our charity of the year HHA were really excited to be able to share our thanks for CVST’s volunteers and the amazing work they do to support our local community. We hope they enjoyed the day!” 

Staff at the Harwich Haven Authority are taking part in the Orwell Challenge this year on June 28 to raise money for CVST.

To donate visit Harwich Haven Authority is fundraising for CVST.

For more information on CVST’s events at its hubs in Clacton and Hub, or weekly events and activities, visit www.cvstendring.org.uk

To find volunteering opportunities near you visit volunteeressex.org