Walked past Finsbury Park and saw a huge crowd of women in pink, celebrating the Weekend to Break Through Breast Cancer. With blasting music from loudspeakers and people clapping and singing to welcome the participants, I can feel the elevated spirits of the event. It is nice to see such sounding response from the public for the public event of promoting awareness.
With UK strong voluntary organization and network, various activities are able to be carried out effectively, and with good support from the public. The awareness of the need of voluntary sectors' help in the society started as early as World War period; and the involvement of voluntary organization in providing planning, regulatory and management of social welfare activities heightened during Thatcher's government. There has been a long history of development of the voluntary movements and NGO's in UK, and this paved the way to the establishment of a mature social welfare system.
Getting the assistance from the NGO's in terms of social services in many aspects really alleviates the burden on the government. With the self-autonomous activities of planning, management and execution of various projects, the NGOs work hand in hand with the government and ensure a more effective management of the welfare of the community. Self-initiated programs with a noble cause, aiming to care and to give, has a great force of propelling the development of the society in a positive way. Starting from individual's initiative to care, the spirit of giving extends to larger community, and to national level. Hence if we all just give a little bit more to care about others, we can really make a difference in life.
From the discussion with HF, it is fascinating to learn how voluntary organization came about. I decided to borrow some books from her soon to read more in depth about the advancement and development of UK social system. It might be taken as a model to be emulated by our own country. We still have a long way to go to progress this far in voluntary actions and organizations.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
蟲到此一讀:P
Volunteering practise, just like many other things, got stuck because of similar sosial problems in Malaysia. Level of education and understanding in UK (or Japan, i guess) are almost equal among all the citizens, unlike multi-race country like Malaysia. Co-operation made easy, no racial issues, cultural clash, etc. While there are quite a number of NGOs and dedicated volunteers here, overall awareness are still quite low. My only worries is not much undergraduate students are involved...let's hope for the best! Will be grateful if you post more about the NGOs and voluntary activities in UK! :)
Post a Comment