14 May, 2015

Celebrating Our Volunteers

To celebrate National Volunteer Week 2015, City of Adelaide will host a special presentation tomorrow by His Excellency the Honourable Hieu Van Le AO, Governor of South Australia.

His Excellency will share his own personal story about travelling to Australia and the impact of volunteers on his early life in Adelaide.

Lord Mayor Martin Haese looks forward to welcoming volunteers from approximately 15 organisations across the City to this special event in the Meeting Hall of Adelaide Town Hall at 10:30am.

“The National Volunteer Week slogan of ‘Give Happy Live Happy’ is very apt when I think about the wonderful and diverse range of volunteers who give their time and effort to the City,” Martin said.

“I encourage everyone to make an extra effort this week to tell volunteers how much you appreciate the work they do to make our community a better place.

“In particular, I’d like to thank the more than 250 excellent City of Adelaide volunteers who all help make our City a great place to live, visit, work and play.”

This week, Council has also celebrated the diversity of our volunteers through a digital media campaign that includes a video giving an insight into the work of three City of Adelaide volunteers. Thank you messages have also featured on digital screens across the City, including the Rundle Lantern, to show our volunteers just how much we appreciate their work.

Digital Hub volunteer, Mhairi Tocher, who features in the video, said National Volunteer Week is a big week for all volunteers in the City of Adelaide.

“I love my role and that people have taken the time this week to recognise the work we do to help deliver services and build a strong community,” Mhairi said.

“Mind you, I speak on behalf of all my colleagues when I say we certainly don’t do it for the recognition – we just love what we do.”

National Volunteer Week kicked off with the well-attended National Volunteer Week Parade through the City on Monday and finishes this Sunday.

Volunteer Facts & Figures:

• City of Adelaide volunteers represent 28 cultural backgrounds and ages span from 18 to 90
• City of Adelaide is proud of its team of over 250 volunteers
• City of Adelaide volunteers provide services in the areas of customer service, tourism, social support, tutoring, park lands, and libraries and community centres
• Volunteers contribute $290 billion annually to the nation’s economy
• Volunteers contribute over 700 million hours annually to the nation
• More than 6 million people volunteer their time each year in Australia

Matt Halliwell