It is that time of year again where we would like to thank and congratulate all volunteers aged 16-25 who have been involved in supporting local organisations, charities and community projects in the last year.

We would like to invite you to support us.

HRH Prince William:

"The awards showcase what can be achieved when young people apply their remarkable energies and determination. They also demonstrate the enormously positive contribution 16 to 25 year-olds can make to our society through volunteering."

Support for the vinspired national awards - vinspired.com

Lady Sovereign:

"v is a great cause, celebrating young people's achievements that would otherwise go unrecognised. I am very happy to show my support to those who've done something good for the community"

. Support for the vinspired national awards - vinspired.com

Solent Youth Action who run vteams across Hampshire are taking over the Wedgewood Rooms on Tuesday 16th February, running two back to back events:

vawards 2010: 18:30-20:30
Solent Youth Action will be taking over the Wedgewood Rooms to award local volunteers the certificates they've gained over the last year for all the commitment and dedication they have shown.

We have volunteers in many organisations; football coaches at Portsmouth Football Club, ward helpers and guides at Portsmouth Hospitals, classroom helpers at schools, youth workers at disability sports clubs and administrators for a host of local charities. As an organisation we also put on one-off events such as the Big Lunch and conservation clean ups. We encourage our volunteers to set up and organise many of the events we hold.

The volunteers will be presenting a showcase of their achievements and we even have performances from the White Coats and Simon Littler who are all volunteers too.

Organisation representatives from all over Portsmouth City will be attending this event so it will be a great opportunity for networking for all.

vgig 2010: 21:30-00:00
This is a fundraiser gig we need promoting. We are raising funds to run volunteering project in our local area throughout 2010.

Held at the Wedgewood Rooms we hope the local bands we have booked will attract a good little crowd for an evening of music and fun! Headlining we have KiZmiT with support acts from Lucifer's GOLD and Q2Q.

A ticket for this event is only £3 in advance and is open to all over 18 with photo ID.

vinvolved projects for February 2010 will include:

Tue 9th : A Lot at the Allotment
Once again we have some digging to do at the allotment. In preparation for sowing seeds in March, we will be adding nutrients to the soil.
Lunch will NOT be provided

Thu 11th : Conservation with BTCV
Working in Chandlers Ford, Eastleigh, we will be clearing willows in the wet meadows at Hocombe Mead, increasing the size of the meadow and allowing other wildlife to flourish. You WILL need wellies for this project!
Lunch will be provided
Only open to volunteers aged 18 and over... sorry!

Wed 17th : Lakeside Country Park
A morning project, we will be working with the BTCV on a variety of projects around this beautiful location.
Lunch will NOT be provided

Sat 27th : "Thrill" on St Giles Hill
We are returning to this great location in Winchester to clear shrubbery, cut back trees, and get stuck into any other tasks we feel would benefit the wildlife
Lunch will be provided

Solent Youth Action are taking over the Wedgewood Rooms on Tuesday 16th February, running two back to back events:

vawards 2010 (18:30-20:30)
Solent Youth Action will be taking over the Wedgewood Rooms to award local SYA volunteers the certificates they've gained over the last year for all the commitment and dedication they have shown.

The volunteers will be presenting a showcase of their achievements and we even have performances from the White Coats and Simon Littler who are all volunteers too.

vgig 2010 (21:30-00:00)
This is a fundraiser gig! We are raising funds to run volunteering projects in our local area throughout 2010.

Held at the Wedgewood Rooms we hope the local bands we have booked will attract a good little crowd for an evening of music and fun!

Headlining we have KiZmiT with support acts from Lucifer's GOLD and Q2Q.

A ticket for this event is only £3 in advance and is open to all over 18 with photo ID.

Hello everybody, well a new year and a new face here at Solent Youth Action.

My name is Rob Whittington and I have just taken on the role of Youth Volunteer Development Manager for the Hampshire team based at our super smart new offices here in Eastleigh.

I will be looking after the Vinvolved team in Hampshire outside the Portsmouth and Southampton centres, I will also be looking after our Vinvolved Projects and the many projects running out of The Hilt in Chandlers Ford.

Volunteers from across Hampshire came together last weekend to help maintain Winnall Moor's reserve in Winchester for visitors and wildlife alike.

The aim of the day was to protect the site's indigenous trees and animals from invasive non-native plants that inhibit British species growth.

The day started with chopping down Japanese Knotweed and any brambles that got in our way. We then moved onto the giant Buddleia that overshadowed the river and managed to hack most of it down with our saws and loppers before the day was over!

v, the national youth volunteering charity began a national campaign to encourage people to give the gift of time this Christmas.

In these difficult financial times, people are looking for less expensive gifts, yet very few think of giving a gift that is totally free - their time.

The aim was to get people to pledge to their friends and families things such as 'taking the dog for a walk', 'teaching you how to play football', or 'making you a mix tape of your favourite songs'.

Ideally, the activities would appeal to people's interests and skills so that they could offer a meaningful and well-done present.

For three days in the lead up to Christmas, staff and volunteers from Solent Youth Action manned a stall in Gunwharf Quays, Portsmouth to spread this word.

In this time, over eighty people of all ages pledged their time to dedicate some effort to cleaning, washing up, massages, baking cakes and more...

V Hampshire, V Portsmouth, V Project, Take Action, The Hilt and Buddies volunteers have been working hard throughout December to design and make as many t-shirts for Operation Smile as they can before Christmas.

After many hours of drawing, cutting and tying, we are proud to say that our volunteers made an amazing 358 t-shirts. So a big well done to everyone that came along to the sessions across the county.

A special mention goes to the Take Action volunteers that made a whopping fifty-five t-shirts, beating all the other projects to be the winner of the most t-shirts made.

On Thursday 10th December, six Take Action Eastleigh volunteers took part in the Operation Smile project.

The aim of the session was to produce fifty hand decorated T-shirts that could then be used as operation gowns for the young children that were going to have the 45 minute operation to repair clefts.

The operation is done through Operation Smile who provides free facial reconstructive surgery to more than 130,000 children. 50 T-shirts provides one child with the operation.