WE have almost 30 charities in the chamber membership and I recently held a meeting with them all to see how we can really help them achieve their aims.

These charities provide valuable support in a diverse range of areas including mental and physical health, cancer care, education, recycling of household goods, wildlife protection and the arts. Charities and the third sector are an extremely important part of the UK economy and deliver many services that would otherwise need to be funded by the public sector.

One main issue that came out in our meeting was the value of volunteering – and the contribution that people with good business skills can make. Charities can really benefit from volunteers with strong skills around areas such as finance, HR, marketing and IT. Charities face the same challenges as businesses and need to be sustainable – volunteers with strong business skills can really make a difference. This is also the case for schools where people with good skills can make a really strong contribution to a school as a governor.

Volunteering can take many forms and is extremely rewarding. I’m not just talking about becoming a trustee of a charity. Volunteering offers people the opportunity to really give something back to the community and make a difference. It can also help individuals develop new skills – something they can take back in to the business they are in. People volunteer for many reasons – to help make difference to the lives of others, help people less fortunate than themselves, gain new confidence and self-esteem or unwind from a busy job or lifestyle.

Volunteering can also really make a difference from a business perspective as well. It helps employees develop new skills, gain new skills and feel motivated. It can help develop team working skills and can bring new experiences and skills back in to a business.

We believe Dorset Chamber can play a valuable role in helping make the links between charities and businesses. We would encourage all businesses to consider embracing volunteering for the good of both your employees and your business and there is a huge range of volunteering opportunities available.

If you would like to find out more about volunteering please contact me on office@dcci.co.uk Finally I would like to congratulate Dorset Blind Association for securing a grant of over £410,000 from the Big Lottery fund for its community support service.

Dorset Blind Association offers extremely valuable care and support for people with sight loss and like many charities, has had to face significant financial challenges over the last few years. Dorset Blind Association does an absolutely fantastic job for people with full or partial sight loss across the whole of Dorset. This is absolutely tremendous news and huge congratulations must go to Jonathan and Jaya and the team there.