Celebrating Glasgow 850 – Volunteers Week 2025 #VolunteersWeek
We spoke to Claire Shiel, Volunteer Manager for Glasgow850, about the city’s celebrations and the impact of volunteering in Glasgow.
Tell us a little bit about Glasgow 850.
Glasgow 850 is the 850th birthday of Glasgow, since we received burgh status. So it’s really just about marking a milestone in the city and taking a bit of a step back and being proud of our city, the people in it, and everything that’s created this great place for everyone to have something that brings them enjoyment and passion.
What is your favourite thing about Glasgow?
My favourite thing about Glasgow is all the parks. There’s so much green space available for people to get that peace of being in nature. A lot of us live in flats on top of each other, and it’s really nice to be able to step out and enjoy a park – especially with the sunshine we’ve been having recently. It’s been really nice to see so many people out in the park enjoying themselves.
How have volunteers helped in celebrating Glasgow 850?
Volunteers have been a great part of Glasgow 850. Glasgow 850 is really about celebrating people, as well, as far as I’m concerned, and volunteers are absolutely a huge part of that. They have helped with all the events that we’ve been running ourselves, they’ve participated in training and activities that we’ve put on just for them, but really, they’re the voice of the 850 programme. They’re the ones that are leading it, telling us what they want out of it, and we’re trying to find opportunities to provide that for them.
What is the impact of volunteering in Glasgow?
I think volunteers are a huge part of Glasgow. I think volunteers have really stepped forward and supported the city in so many different ways. My first foray into volunteering was with the Commonwealth Games in 2014, and just watching how many people really get behind volunteering in this city for the major events is great, but it’s really about the community volunteering. It’s the small organisations where volunteers can make an absolutely huge difference to the running of that service. I think volunteers in Glasgow really get behind it, they’re passionate, they really want to give something back to their city and I think that’s fantastic.
Do you have a message for volunteers?
I would say to volunteers – thank you. Thank you for everything that you do. It is really important that we have your support for the city, for all the organisations that you help, but really, you’re just giving your time, your passion, your energy, for something, and that’s really something quite special.
I would say to anyone who’s not volunteered before – give it a go. It’s a really good thing to do. You can find your own tribe when you do it.
You can find opportunities to volunteer with Glasgow 850 through the Volunteer Glasgow website by clicking this link.
Join in the Glasgow 850 celebrations – click here to find out more.
