The Rising Sun is unique in its relationship with volunteering. As most people who visit the centre are aware, we only have 2 part-time paid workers here. Looking at our programme, clearly more than 40 hours a week of work is put in. That’s because we have around 70 volunteers who make everything happen.

Volunteers do a bit of everything at The Rising Sun – cleaning, marketing, sound for gigs, working behind the bar, taking money on the door, planning events, updating the website, painting and fixing the building. Honestly, the list could go on and on. That’s why this Volunteers’ Week (1st – 7th June 2017) we want to say a massive thank you to every single one of our volunteers.

The music nights, theatre shows, art exhibitions and any other events or classes that you might see at the centre do not happen by accident. They are a representation of hours upon hours of hard work by very talented people who deserve to be recognised. The range of skills and time commitment that goes into everything we do is huge.

Unlike other organisations, we can’t necessarily give statistics about how much volunteers contribute to the centre. The truth is that The Rising Sun simply would not exist were it not for our volunteers (and that’s a scary thought!), they make all the difference. Our volunteers work together to bring weird and wonderful music, theatre, art and more to the community of Reading.

So thank you to every single one of our volunteers, you are amazing!

To find out more about volunteering at the Rising Sun, click here.