Numerous volunteers, supporters and guests all in a high spirit filled the beautifully decorated Grand Foyer at the National Theatre Ivan Vazov.
Maria Petkova from Tulip Foundation spoke about the idea behind the awards and the significance of volunteering as a choice, satisfaction, connection with others and opportunities for development. She stated the commitment of Tulip Foundation and the National Alliance for Voluntary Action to start a public discussion on the standards for organised volunteering in Bulgaria.
By tradition the President of the Republic of Bulgaria Rosen Plevneliev addressed the volunteers in Bulgaria and appeal to them to speak about their activities, to tell about their achievements and to engage others. He underlined that he is proud with the volunteers who become more and more in numbers and more engaged each next year.
Young musicians form the National Musical School Nia Lecheva, Viktor Trenev and Josef Shertzel performed pieces from J.S. Bach and Joakin Rodrigo.
Reneta Veneva from National Alliance for Voluntary Action spoke about the nominations and the tendencies, the engagement of more young people and students in various voluntary activities. She pointed out that the time has come for opportunities to validate the skills of the volunteers.
Ognian Zlatev, Head of Representation of the European Commission in Bulgaria, annouced one of the awarded initiatives – Voluntary work at a social kitchen at St. Ilia Church, work with children at the Sunday school and building a new playground for children$ run by the Philanthropy Club at school 105 in Sofia.
Aneta Milkova, member of the Board of the Bulgarian National Television, presented the next award - TELUS Day of Support in Plovdiv, organised by TELUS International Europe. The initiative is being nominated by the Social Services complex in the city.
Aleksey Lazarov, Chef Editor of Capital newspaper, shared that a growing numbers of people look for and read the good news I the media. He announced the last of the three equal awards. It was for the Tourist Association Prista in Rouse for the projects “Together for the sustainable development of the Danube islands.” A young volunteer received the award on the name of more than 120 local volunteers.
At the end of the ceremony all participants applauded all volunteers in Bulgaria for their efforts to change the world and motivation to help others. The teams of the awarded organisations took a picture with President Rosen Plevneliev, the members of the Jury and the organisers of the ceremony.
The Volunteer Initiative 2015 award ceremony was organised with the cooperation of National Theatre Ivan Vazov, the National Musical School and the media partnership of the Bulgarian National Television and Capital newspaper.
Forty highly varied initiatives realised by local volunteers from around the county were nominated this year. The activities are organised by civil organisations, informal groups, business companies, community clubs, schools and individuals. They will be evaluated on the basis of their results, the importance for the local community, the number and the involvement of the participants, the impact of the initiative for the development of the capacity of the volunteers and the team of the organisation, the financial effectiveness.
