National Volunteer Week
National Volunteer Week is Australia’s largest annual celebration of volunteering and will be next held on 19-25 May 2025. This special event provides an opportunity to highlight the important role of volunteers in our community and invites people not currently volunteering to give it a go.
We are pleased to announce National Volunteer Week 2025 will celebrate the power of volunteering to bring people together with the theme ‘Connecting Communities’.
Volunteering creates lasting relationships that enrich lives and strengthen communities. Join us as we explore how giving to others fosters community engagement, connection and belonging.
Let’s acknowledge the spirit of connection and the incredible impact volunteers have in building inclusive and flourishing communities.
Our dedicated volunteers play a vital role making the city a more welcoming place for all. With 243 active volunteers, the City of Adelaide benefits from thousands of hours generously given to support a wide range of programs and services.
Over the past year alone, our volunteers have contributed more than 11,300 hours across diverse initiatives, including:
- Language support programs
- Craft activities
- Recreational and creative writing sessions
- Lifelong learning opportunities through our City Libraries’ digital hubs and Home Library Service
- Justice of the Peace services
- Healthy Ageing active leisure program
- Event support for key community events like New Year’s Eve celebrations and Citizenship Ceremonies
- Environmental and City Operations support, such as bushland care, nursery and wetlands maintenance, and greening projects
- Visitor economy activities, including Adelaide Greeters and City Guides
- Pooch Pals dog walking program
- Talk With a Local community engagement
Find out more about how you can become a volunteer with us here.
We asked some of our wonderful volunteers what volunteering means to them:
Vaesna Maletic
JP at the City Library
I feel a connection to others when I can help them, so it is great to be able to provide a free service as we do at the library. I meet so many people at the library, from different walks of life and from many different countries which I also really enjoy.
Arnold Seglenieks
Tutor, Digital Hubb Hutt Street Library
Because of my own experiences, I am always keen to encourage others to volunteer. As I help people to deal with the tech barriers that disrupt normal daily activities, I get to share both in their frustrations and their sense of achievement as problems are solved. It is a safe environment where vulnerability can be revealed but also overcome, and this level of sharing can bring about very positive personal connection.
Amelie Pangbourne
History Hub Assistant, Library
Volunteering at the city library has given me a strong feeling of connectedness to the Adelaide community. With the opportunity to learn from those around me, storytelling and sharing of lived experiences create an intimate sense of belonging. Volunteering in the History Hub has allowed me to meet and understand what brings people to our beautiful State.
Linh Vuu
Digital Hub Volunteer, City Library
Volunteering at the Digital Hub helps me feel connected to others by allowing me to share my knowledge and support people in navigating technology, which is essential in today’s world. It creates a sense of belonging as I become part of a diverse community where learning and helping go hand in hand.
Matias Lanus Mendez Elizalde
Innovation Lab, City Library
By sharing my knowledge, experience and enthusiasm for modern technologies through my volunteering role at the Innovation Lab, I’m able to support people from Adelaide’s vibrant and diverse community. Whether they come in with a specific project or simple curiosity about robotics, programming, 3D printing, digital design, virtual reality or laser cutting, these meaningful exchanges create a strong sense of connection, and I’ve come to appreciate just how extraordinary the people of this city are. Helping others makes me feel like I’m part of something bigger—a shared effort to build a better, more inclusive future, which gives me a genuine sense of belonging.
Zuri Molina Torres
Media Lab City Library
Volunteering at the Media Lab is incredibly rewarding! I get to share creative and multimedia skills, support others in learning new media technologies, and connect with a diverse community. I always leave feeling inspired and uplifted.
Ian Pilkington
JP libraries
As a person with disability, I am a strong advocate for disability access and inclusion.
Right from the beginning I have experienced a truly genuine, inclusive volunteering experience within my role as. Justice of the Peace in the City Library.
Access adjustments were straight forward, and my altered mobility isn’t an issue.
City Libraries truly welcomes anyone of any ability, culture, identity from anywhere in the world. I take great pride and thoroughly
Enjoy connecting with well over a dozen nationalities in just one shift. Being able to provide meaningful assistance
Especially to those who are new migrants, international students, patrons who have English as a second language, neurodiverse, people with disabilities and others
Who could be seen a vulnerable or in a minority group.
It is genuinely true, you get so much more back than you put in, I would thoroughly recommend the City of Adelaide Volunteer program to anyone, there are so many options to connect with community in many diverse programs. The volunteer program has provided opportunities and community connection I would not have otherwise had the privilege of experiencing.
Carmen Walker-Galpin
Events Volunteer
Volunteering as a Cruise Ship Greeter is wonderful as I enjoy telling people about our vibrant city and hoping my information and greeting will have them return – it is a good feeling. Also, as a Citizenship Ceremony volunteer it is a pleasure for me to help them in having a small part of their important Day as a new Australian Citizen. As a volunteer you give your time, but the return rewards are immense in feeling connected to and sharing our community spirit.
