People looking to bag a bargain in Festival Place were given a chance to shop around for an ideal volunteering opportunity.
Basingstoke Voluntary Services (BVS) teamed up with the borough council to showcase 30 charities working in the borough.
The June 1 recruitment drive was heralded a success by BSV, who said they saw more people signing up to help their community.
BVS chief executive Rebecca Kennelly said: “Days like these are great for raising our community awareness.
“So many people keep telling us that they would love to volunteer but just don’t know what is out there and who they can help.”
Staff manning the stalls in Porchester Square said the surge in interest provided a much needed boost for cash-strapped organisations.
Graham Hatcher, chief executive of Basingstoke Citizen Advice Bureau, said that by mid-morning he had run of information leaflets, and netted 21 new volunteers.
The charity, based in the Discovery Centre, relies on a network of at least 80 volunteers.
He said: “A lot of people were surprised that we are a volunteer organisation. Yet we could not offer our service without them.”
According to BVS there are more than 400 registered groups relying on volunteers in the borough.
Last year 140 groups were active, drawing on 5,333 unpaid volunteers whose services provided the equivalent of £13m worth of work.
Ms Kennelly said the figures were a tribute to Basingstoke’s community spirit, but stressed more help is needed as charities face cash cuts.
She said: “Basingstoke has a tremendous sense of community support. But never has there been a time when the charity sector needs so much help. So what we need now is more volunteers. We need to bridge the gap in the charity sector. We have a great community here and hopefully we can all do something.”
For more information on volunteering, visit www.voluntaryservices.org
