THIS week I held another of my Constituency Volunteers Days in Westminster which gives me an opportunity to say thank you to some of the people who give their time, energy and enthusiasm to a myriad of activities right across the Devizes Constituency.

Volunteers join a coach in Devizes or Marlborough, enjoy an official tour of the Houses of Parliament, drop into a debate when possible, generally enjoy the buzz of this wonderful place and join me for a session in one of the grand committee rooms where we talk through local and national concerns.

It was a pleasure to welcome people from a huge variety of organisations including local parish councillors, school governors, Friends of Savernake Hospital, ARK (Action for River Kennet) and Girl Guiding UK.

One of the topics raised was the difficulty in recruiting new volunteers and while there are problems of work/life balance and transport (especially for young people) to overcome, the group also thought a central guide to volunteering opportunities would be helpful.

After the meeting we were pleased to find that Wiltshire Council has a very useful website doing just that at www.wearedevelop.org.uk/volunteering. As well as feeling good, some local volunteering opportunities offer Spice Time credits – benefits for the time you give which can offer free activities such as swimming, gym, tennis or learning and skills classes such as computing, arts and crafts.

Many volunteers were on hand to greet the Duchess of Cornwall at the opening of the Prospect Hospice outreach centre at Savernake Hospital in Marlborough this week although sadly I was unable to join the event.

I am so pleased that the much-loved Savernake Hospital, after a period where services for local people were hollowed out, is now providing so many much-needed health services and the amazing Prospect Centre will be a wonderful support for cancer patients and their families.

I know that many more people will be volunteering their time and skills to support the hospice unit and while it is hard to single out individual organisations given the galaxy of generosity shown by so many across the Constituency, those associated with Savernake have a long history of so many able and committed volunteers working so hard for us.

I would like to pay tribute to the Friends of Savernake Hospital for all their work over the years and additionally to everyone locally who has been involved in fundraising for the Prospect centre who helped reach the fundraising target in such record time.