If Stirling is successful, Scotland will be home to a European Volunteering Capital for the first time. Previous winners include Barcelona, Lisbon and London.
Stirling Council, Volunteer Scotland and Stirlingshire Voluntary Enterprise are leading the bid.
Their aim is for Stirling to be the first area in Scotland where it’s the norm to volunteer, setting an ambitious target of increasing volunteering participation rates to 50 per cent. Currently over a third of local people in Stirlingshire volunteer.
More than 120 local and national organisations have already backed Stirling’s bid, including the Scottish Government.
Ms Campbell said: “It is well known that volunteering brings enormous benefits to people and communities and also to the volunteers themselves. I want us to create a society where volunteering is the norm – where opportunity or expectation is not limited by upbringing or social circumstances.
“That’s why I’m delighted to formally endorse Stirling’s bid for European Volunteering Capital 2020. Being declared a candidate city is a wonderful testament to all those volunteers who enrich the lives of our communities.
“It is also an opportunity for us to show the judges that we have the potential to do much more – to inspire volunteers across the continent and encourage even more people to get involved.”
The Communities Secretary was speaking at Volunteer Scotland’s ‘Young People, Volunteering and Inclusion’ event at the Tolbooth, which brought the curtain down on Stirling’s Festival of Volunteering.
Co-designed and co-delivered by young people, the conference brought together practitioners, young volunteers, policy makers and researchers to discuss the challenges and solutions to engaging young people as volunteers.
At the closing ceremony of the week-long festival, Stirling was presented with its candidacy certificate for its bid.
The city has had a superb response from organisations, while citizens have showed their community spirit towards the bid in a number of ways, including on social media using the hashtag #CongaInto2020.
Councillor Chris Kane, Convener of the Community Planning and Regeneration Committee at Stirling Council, said: “Today was another milestone in our ambitious bid to become the first Scottish city to become European Volunteering Capital.
“It has been fantastic to see how the people of Stirling have already rallied to the cause. We have had a superb response from organisations so far and we would love more to get on board.
“We want as many people to get involved over the coming months as the bid moves forward and nothing beats the joy you get from helping others through volunteering.
“We were declared a candidate city in recognition of the countless volunteers that enrich the lives of our communities, giving up their time to causes close to their heart.
“Our work continues to show the judges that Stirling has the potential and initiative to do so much more. We want the city to be a beacon that inspires volunteering across the continent.”
One of the big successes of the Festival of Volunteering was a Family Day at Kings Park last Saturday, where 2,500 people took part in a full range of activities, from bubble football to bungee trampolining. More than 30 local clubs and charities also took part.
George Thomson, CEO of Volunteer Scotland said: “It was great to see so many families getting together on Saturday to celebrate volunteering, find out more about getting involved and back the city’s bid to become European Volunteering Capital in 2020. The terrific success of this year’s festival shows there’s a real energy and desire for even more next year, building towards a year-long Festival in 2020.”
Stirling’s candidacy was officially announced by the European Volunteer Centre on Monday July 2. The competition recognises regions which offer outstanding support for volunteers.
Danish city Aarhus is the current title-holder and will be succeeded by the Slovakian city of Kosice in 2019. The 2020 winner will be announced in December.
Note: Picture shows Communities Secretary, Aileen Campbell, presenting Chris Kane, Convener of the Community Planning and Regeneration Committee with Stirling’s candidacy certificate for its bid, alongside George Thomson, CEO of Volunteer Scotland (far left) and Natalie Masterson, Chief Executive of Stirlingshire Voluntary Enterprise (far right).