8 February 2026
Hundreds Explore Volunteering Opportunities At Eastleigh Fair
Hundreds of people started the new year by exploring ways to give back at the Eastleigh Volunteer Fair, held last week at Pavilion on the Park, organised by Community First.
Despite wet weather, more than 200 locals, including college students, attended the free event to discover how volunteering could make a positive difference in their community. Most didn’t even have a plan of who they’d like to support and what causes, just that they wanted to give back to their community in some way.
Visitors spoke with more than 30 charities, leisure clubs and voluntary organisations, including Solent Mind, Telegraph Woods Nature Recovery, Chandler’s Ford Stroke Support Group and Youth Options, to find opportunities that matched their skills, interests and availability.
Tim Houghton, Chief Executive of Community First, said: “The start of a new year often inspires people to reflect on how they can give something back, and it was fantastic to see so many people taking that first step into volunteering. Even with the rain, the atmosphere was incredibly positive, and it was clear how much local groups value the time and skills volunteers bring.
“It was especially encouraging to see so many young people attend, and we’re grateful to Barton Peveril College and Eastleigh College for helping to promote the fair.”
The fair was supported by Eastleigh Borough Council and attended by Deputy Mayor, Councillor Richard Gomer. When opening the event, he said: “Volunteering is a superpower – it builds up our community and gives people new friendships, skills and experiences.”
Feedback from exhibitors included: “a great event, bringing the benevolent together for the better of the community” and “connecting with people from other organisations is invaluable for me as they can refer people to me and vice versa.”
While the weather did its best to deter attendees, we were so pleased to see such a high turnout to the event itself with attendees also supporting the cafe attached to the venue, supporting the Community Centre.
Thank you to all of the attendees who came to find out how they can help others and to all of the great causes taking the time to promote their volunteering roles. See a great bunch of them below!
While Community First had no volunteer roles of their own to promote at the event, they did spread awareness for Volunteer First, the volunteering brokerage website. A service matching volunteers with local opportunities across Eastleigh, Fareham, Gosport, Havant, East Hampshire, New Forest and Winchester.