OVER 100 people attended Ross-on-Wye’s Festival of Volunteering as part of the JK300 commemorations, with representatives of local groups informing visitors of what’s available.

Ali Park, project officer for Ross Community Development Trust who co-ordinated the festival explained that John Kyrle was all about getting people to volunteer to get projects done and she was delighted with the number of people who attended from such a wide range of groups.

“This is exactly what the festival was about and it has been great to see people chatting and laughing, enjoying the music, wearing their volunteering badges and dressing up for the photo booth,” said Ali.

“The festival is our way of celebrating the work of the amazing volunteers who are the lifeblood for the many voluntary organisations in and around Ross.

The festival welcomed a variety of local groups including Ross Meeting Centre, Ross Good Neighbours, Ross Town Band, Royal Voluntary Service, The Royal British Legion and Cats First plus many others.

Ali and the team would like to thank everyone who helped to make the event happen - Herefordshire Together and Ross Town Council for funding, St Marys Church and volunteers for hosting, Chocolate Teapot for the great live music, Joe at In The Booth which was an absolute hit, to groups who brought a plate for the lovely buffet and most importantly to the volunteers themselves who came along and made the event such a success.

The festival provided an opportunity for volunteers from all sectors to come together in the company of fellow volunteers, swap stories, renew old connections, make new ones be part of the multi-faceted local community which John Kyrle was so instrumental in.

Visitors were asked to write down what they love about volunteering in Ross. Among those commenting including people saying they get a lot of satisfaction by volunteering, other comments included that it was a chance to step outside the front door and do something useful while others said it was their way of giving something back to the community and others observed that volunteering was the bedrock of a local community.

Commemorative button badges were given out to the volunteers who attended.