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.

On Monday 14th December 2009, two volunteers from the Respect Programme in Portsmouth volunteered to help out at the Kings Theatre on Albert Road.

The pair were tasked to put together distribution packs of leaflets on upcoming shows and later on to assemble and test the pantomime merchandise, including light sabers!

They were rewarded with a tour of the theatre which was extremely interesting and took them to the boxes, backstage and even below the stage!

As part of the Operation Smile campaign that Solent Youth Action are taking part in, officers from the V team in Hampshire held their very own t-shirt making session at the head office.

Twelve volunteers from as far as Gosport and Brockenhurst gave up their Friday afternoon and made their way to Eastleigh to help design and make t-shirts for the charity appeal.

Some amazing gowns were made by the fantastic young volunteers, including fabric teddy bears, balloons and sequined flowers.

The high point of the session for volunteers and staff alike was a visit from Eastleigh MP and Shadow Secretary of State for the Home Department Chris Huhne, who came to see what we had achieved and to have a go at designing his own gown.

After getting some inspiration from the other t-shirts that were displayed around the room, Chris drew a large yellow face complete with a big cheery smile.

Chris was extremely impressed with the efforts of the young people, and reiterated the importance of volunteering to make a difference and to help others.

Solent Youth Action volunteers go wild in the Forest and give the gift of time!

Volunteers from across Hampshire came together to help clear part of the New Forest of Rhododendron bushes. The young people worked hard to saw, chop, drag and burn the weeds from a large area of the Forest in the Copythorne area.

Jamie Corry of Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust commented that it's the most that has been cleared in one session, and was thrilled with the effort the volunteers put in on the day.

This Taster Day was in conjunction the V Festive Favours campaign in which young people give the gift of time instead of presents this Christmas. We'd like to say a massive thank you to the volunteers who each gave six hours to conserve a part of our region for local residents and visitors to enjoy.