Our 2025 Volunteer Celebration Event - Dolly, Duets & Dancing!
Published 3 July 2025
Volunteers are ordinary people with extraordinary hearts and this Volunteers Week, we pulled out all the stops to celebrate the incredible individuals who give their time, energy and compassion to support others across Making Space.
On Wednesday 4 June, we held our third Volunteer Celebration Event at Doncaster Racecourse, and what a day it was! With more than 60 volunteers from services all over the country coming together, it was a brilliant opportunity to catch up and celebrate everything that makes our volunteer community so special.
Volunteers joined us from across many of our services, including St Helens Family Support, Rotherham Dementia Carers Support, We All Are One Doncaster Carers Support Group, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Carer Support Service, Bolton Carers Support, Warrington Connect Hub, The Making Change Group, and Stockport Open Door.
The celebration featured a delicious three-course lunch, plenty of laughs, and some impressive moves on the dance floor, all brought to life by a fabulous Dolly Parton tribute act. Adding to the fun, our Deputy CEO and event host Phil Orton surprised everyone by joining in for a memorable rendition of “Islands in the Stream” as Kenny to Dolly and absolutely nailed it! Reflecting on the day, Phil said:
Our volunteers are essential to Making Space and bring a rich level of diversity, skills and experience. They are the heartbeat of our charity. Their selfless dedication enables us to make a real difference, and we simply couldn’t do it without them. It was a fantastic day of celebration, and I had an amazing time hosting, especially stepping into the role of Kenny and I’m already looking forward to next year.
The raffle was a real treat too, with five beautifully themed hampers up for grabs, each one celebrating sustainability and wellbeing. Congratulations to our lucky winners who took home: The Gardener’s Delight Hamper, The Little Birdy Hamper, The Butterfly Bundle, Bee Kind to Yourself Hamper, and Bee Chilled Hamper.
We also want to give a huge thank you to Field Good Flowers, a British flower grower based in Doncaster, who created the stunning sustainable centrepieces, which were raffled off at the end of the event and taken home by volunteers. And of course, every volunteer left with a Thank You Goody Bag, packed with thoughtful treats as a gesture of appreciation for the big impact they make every day.
The event also featured a Volunteer Celebration Tree, filled with handwritten messages from volunteers about what giving their time means to them. The quotes were heartfelt, inspiring, and reminded us all why volunteering is such a powerful force for good. Here is just a very small selection:
“Volunteers are so special, they make our visits so special.”
“Volunteers are so welcoming, kind and I find them easier to talk to. I really appreciate everything they do.”
“Volunteers are smashing, they help us with anything, chat and make us feel involved.”
“To me, volunteering is giving your time to a worthy cause. I volunteer to make sure that people are involved in activities.”
As part of the event, we also celebrated achieving the Investing in Volunteers Accreditation, recognising our commitment to creating a supportive and engaging experience for every volunteer. As well as launching
our brand-new Volunteer Engagement Strategy for 2025–26, which lays out our next steps and promises to:
- Understand what motivates volunteers
- Offer meaningful, rewarding opportunities
- Create a true sense of belonging
- Measure and celebrate the impact of volunteering
To all our volunteers…THANK YOU. You are truly the heart of what we do.
Check out the full photo gallery from the day
Want to know more about Volunteers Week and how to get involved and volunteer at Making Space, click here.