Year-round service

LAST week was National Volunteer Week. But we should be thankful every day of the year for the hard work of selfless, unpaid workers.

In Tasmania, they donate 49,000 hours of free labour each day. And without them the place would not function as well as it does. In fact, it would struggle to function at all.

Imagine a society without meals-onwheels delivered to the house-bound, or trained counsellors at Lifeline answering calls for help.

Imagine no volunteer firefighters emerging through the smoke to save lives and property and give heart to the fearful.

How hard would it be for major events to be staged successfully without St John Ambulance officers on hand in case of a medical emergency?

How cheerless would our hospitals be without auxiliaries adding an extra touch of comfort for those who are suffering and away from home?

What about the thousands of seriously ill Tasmanians and those living with disabilities who rely on caring relatives? Without them our nursing homes and hospitals would be overwhelmed.

Imagine if nobody volunteered to help keep the dog and cat shelters functioning

The cumulative effect of all these works of kindness helps build a decent society

or no wildlife rescuers bothered to raise injured animals.

Tasmania would be a much poorer place without its service clubs, Landcare teams, surf life savers and so many other groups.

More than 158,000 Tasmanians volunteer, allowing 5000 organisations to provide important services in many fields. That is 41 per cent of the adult population, compared with a national average of 36 per cent.

The small size of the state and its close social networks lends itself to this kind of community effort.

The January bushfire crisis highlighted this strength. It led to an outpouring of generosity, with $8.7 million raised by the Red Cross Tasmanian Bushfire Appeal and countless offers of goods and services. About 600 people also offered their services to Volunteering Tasmania in the aftermath of the fires.

Most volunteering is not done for personal glory. It is low-key and unspectacular. But the cumulative effect of all these works of kindness helps build a decent society.

It is quite right that volunteers have been acknowledged and that some of them have been treated to a morning tea for National Volunteer Week.

They deserve this small gesture of appreciation and so much more.