Call for volunteers' bank holiday

Volunteering has come a long way since bob-a-job week

Union body the TUC wants an extra UK bank holiday to celebrate the work of volunteers and to boost the economy.

It wants the "community day" to come in late October and to encourage people to get involved with communal activities.

The economy would benefit from the extra spending that would result from people having a day out, it said.

But the government said it had no plans to change the current pattern of bank holidays, claiming there were other ways of promoting work-life balance.

"The government regularly receives a variety of suggestions for new or different bank holidays," said a Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) spokesman.

"However, it is not possible to please everyone as to whom or what should be celebrated."

'Spending boom'

The TUC said nearly a million businesses in the retail, hospitality, leisure, tourism and transport sectors would benefit from a new bank holiday from 2010.

Creating space and time for volunteering is essential for the health of our society Justin Davis Smith Volunteering England

Some �90bn of spending a year in the UK economy comes from days out, which would be encouraged by the extra break.

The TUC's report also suggests that it would also lead to employers benefiting from a workforce with improved productivity, morale and health.

Justin Davis Smith, of Volunteering England, said it supported the idea of a community day.

"Creating space and time for volunteering is essential for the health of our society and I firmly believe that this day would encourage more people to get involved with their local community," he said.

The government said six million workers in Britain gained an extra four days annual holiday in October 2007.

It said that figure would increase by another four days next April, bringing statutory annual leave to 28 days a year.

"Bank holidays are well established in this country and any move to introduce an additional holiday would need to balance the benefits it would bring to some individuals and businesses against the cost and disruption it would involve for others," the BERR spokesman said.

E-mail this to a friend

Printable version