International Volunteer Day
3 December 2007 at 1:09 pm
Australia will celebrate International Volunteer Day (IVD) on Wednesday December 5th.
IVD is a United Nations auspiced day that commenced in 1985 and is now celebrated around the world as a day to recognise volunteers in their communities.
New Volunteering Australia CEO, Cary Pedicini says it’s a great time to recognise the contribution that volunteers make to their community.
Pedicini says many Not for Profits could not operate without the input of their volunteer network. The cost to these organisations if they were to replace their work with paid staff is almost impossible to estimate as more than 6.3 million volunteers contribute more than 836 million hours of voluntary work.
He says IVD is a great time to recognise this wonderful commitment and encourage more Australians to volunteer. There are so many opportunities for volunteering and many organisations now offer competency-based training that is recognised nationally and can help with future job prospects or personal development.
Volunteering Australia manages the largest volunteer opportunity website.
He says Govolunteer is a website dedicated to listing volunteer opportunities nationally with a search function that enables you to find opportunities in your own area.
More than 11,000 volunteering opportunities are listed and organisations are checked to ensure they have appropriate volunteer insurance before having their listing placed on the site.
Volunteering Australia has a range of free resources available to assist organisations who want to celebrate IVD. They can be accessed via the website at www.volunteeringaustralia.org
The website also hosts a ‘What’s On’ listing of IVD events as well as an opportunity for volunteers to share their personal volunteering stories as an inspiration to others who may be considering volunteering.
Volunteering Australia encourages all volunteer groups to take the time to recognise their volunteers on IVD.
