LAST week saw a host of prominent VIPs from Wycombe take the lead in the run-up to a mass volunteer recruitment drive which will hopefully provide local charities with the boost they so desperately need. MICHELLE FLEMING reports.

FROM actor and columnist Colin Baker to High Wycombe Mayor Nigel Vickery, it was out of the office and down to their local charity organisations for a few hours where they worked for the good of their community.

Misconceptions about volunteering often keeps people away from sacrificing a few hours for a cause but as representatives of volunteer support groups point out, the opportunities lie just as much with the volunteer as with the charity they choose to support.

Behind the scenes of this year's third Volunteer Recruitment Fair are leading Volunteer support groups the Priory Centre and Volunteer Focus,which work out of offices in Priory Road.

When a charity finds itself in difficulty and resources are tight, its first port of call is to The Priory Centre manager Bill Reid.

Access to the most basic facilities necessary for any successful business, such as photocopiers and computers are available at the centre with trained advisors on hand to help with any other business queries.

Upstairs Sue Berry oversees Volunteer Focus, the Wycombe and District Volunteer bureau and first stop-off for anyone interested in offering their skills and services.

Mr Reid said: "We really want to stress to people how incredibly valuable just a few hours of their time would be if we set them to work with one of the charities."

"A few hours a month to an evening a week the flexibility is there and we would never turn any of this much needed support away."

Mrs Berry is keen to point out that helping others will not leave anyone out of pocket.

She said: "You can learn new skills, meet new people and it's a no-lose commitment really as most charities reimburse volunteers' travel expenses and often provide relevant training for those interested."

Among the VIPs leading by example was Chairman of Wycombe District Council, Bill Jennings, who was delighted to step up to the challenge and put into practice what he has preached after adopting volunteering as part of his theme for his year as chairman.

Speaking about his time with the Iain Rennie Hospice bookshop in Castle Street, High Wycombe, he said: "It was an incredibly useful day being able to see for oneself the need for helpers by these incredibly important charities.

Actor and Free Press columnist Colin Baker visited the Women's Royal Voluntary Service tea shop on the second floor of Amersham Hospital.

Here he served up tea and coffee to patients who flocked to the shop when they heard a certain 'doctor' would be serving up their brews.

Meanwhile, Stephen Nokes, headteacher of John Hampden Grammar School, spent last Friday morning at the Mop End Field Centre near Hazlemere, where he joined a group of enthusiastic five-year-olds for a fun-filled few hours investigating pond life.

And Free Press editor Steve Cohen ventured to Workaid in White Lion Road, Amersham, last Friday to help out with the charity's work reconditioning old tools which are then sent to developing countries overseas.

He said: "It is an incredibly worthy project fixing up tools from typewriters to agricultural tools and sending them out to needy African communities."

A Volunteer Recruitment Fair is being held at the Guildhall in High Wycombe tomorrow between 10am and 4pm.