Bath Abbey marks Volunteers’ Week 2025. From 2 to 8 June 2025, Bath Abbey will join thousands of charities and voluntary organisations recognising the contribution volunteers make across the UK.
Running for 41 years since 1984, Volunteers’ Week provides a crucial opportunity to thank volunteers and recognise the value of their time, passion and skills. The campaign highlights the diversity and unity of volunteer work across the UK. Many will take part in awards ceremonies, coffee mornings and days out during the week. The celebrations aim to foster connections between national organisations and grassroots groups, celebrating the spirit of volunteering that enriches communities each year.
During Volunteers’ Week Bath Abbey will be celebrating their 258 volunteers, by hosting a thanksgiving service of Choral Evensong and an ice-cream reception for their volunteers, as well as a week-long recruitment drive on the Abbey floor. They acknowledge and celebrate the many Bath Abbey volunteers who also give their time to other organisations in Bath, helping to cement the connections across Bath’s heritage sites. In celebration of this, the Abbey has reached out to a range of heritage organisations across Bath, all of which are offering reciprocal free access for the volunteers of participating organisations. Alongside this, a programme of free tours and talks for volunteers is running.
Revd. Guy Bridgewater, Rector of Bath Abbey, said: “Volunteers’ Week is a wonderful opportunity to give thanks to our many volunteers, whose time, energy and enthusiasm contributes enormously to the Abbey’s ability to provide a rich ministry and welcome to people from across the city of Bath and beyond.”
Volunteers’ Week is led by the UK Volunteering Forum, a partnership between Volunteer Scotland, the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO), the Wales Council for Voluntary Action (WCVA) and Volunteer Now in Northern Ireland.
The UK Volunteering Forum said: “Volunteers bring a richness to organisations across the country. There is no better time to recognise the diversity of our volunteers and celebrate the difference that volunteering makes than during Volunteers’ Week. Without volunteers many charities just simply could not function, with so many people giving up their time and going above and beyond. The week is a chance for all of us to show just how vital they are to charities and communities everywhere.”