Volunteer for an inclusive future

International Volunteer Day is an international event organised by United Nations volunteers and celebrated every year on December 5. It champions the impact volunteers have in communities, nationally and globally.

This year’s International Volunteer Day theme is focused on United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 10 and the pursuit of equality – including inclusion – through volunteerism.

How does volunteering contribute to inclusion? Volunteering is a mechanism which reduces inequalities in society by empowering people to participate in their own communities, thus fostering inclusion.

One of today’s challenges for New Zealanders from all walks of life is that there simply do not seem to be enough hours in the day to enable gifting to a community organisation or project.

Volunteering Canterbury’s Group Volunteering programme works with organisations, including businesses, to facilitate a one-off project, often during their normal working hours with the support of employers.

This has enabled a gifting of approximately 2500 hours through that programme alone to community groups during 2019.

❚ To find out more about the Group Volunteering programme, email outreach@volcan.org.nz or phone 03 366 2442. To view online listings for current individual volunteer roles available, visit the Volunteering Canterbury website volcanmatch.com.