Celebrating Volunteering

Volunteering WA holds several events throughout the year to celebrate and recognise the over 600,000 volunteers in Western Australia.

International Volunteer Day

Each year on December 5, Volunteering WA proudly celebrates International Volunteer Day. The 2019 theme, ‘Volunteers for Inclusive Future,’ highlighted volunteers contributing to inclusion, and Sustainable Development Goal 10, reducing inequality within and among countries.

To celebrate the day and recognise over 600,000 volunteers in our State, Volunteering WA hosted the annual Garden Party in the beautiful gardens of Government House. Over 470 people gathered together, including the Patron of Volunteering, His Excellency the Honourable Kim Beazley AC, Governor of Western Australia, who thanked volunteers for contributing so much to their communities. #volunteer4inclusion #IVD2019

Learn more about the International Volunteer Day Garden Party and view the photo gallery here.

National Volunteer Week

This year’s National Volunteer Week theme, ‘Changing Communities. Changing Lives,’ reminded us that volunteers are needed more than ever, as we have seen during the bushfire crisis and COVID-19 response.

While COVID-19 changed the nature of celebrations held this year, the spirit of the week was not lost. Hundreds of virtual celebrations took place across WA to highlight the enormous contribution volunteers make.

Perth’s most iconic landmarks and buildings were lit up ‘volunteering red’ throughout the week to show support for volunteers.

On social media, hundreds of Western Australians put up their hands to thank all the volunteers around Australia by waving a special smile of appreciation. The #waveforvolunteers national social media campaign was a great success, with an overwhelming number of posts showing hundreds of ‘waves of appreciation’.

Thank you to Premier Mark McGowan, the Minister for Volunteering, Mick Murray MLA and many others for their messages of support and waves of appreciation.

“Our volunteers positively change communities and lives every single day, and National Volunteer Week presents a wonderful opportunity to recognise their outstanding contributions,” The Minister for Volunteering, Mick Murray MLA.

A special thank you to our Patron, The Honourable Kim Beazley AC, Governor of Western Australia, for his National Volunteer Week welcome address.

WA Volunteer of the Year Awards

Due to the uncertainty surrounding COVID-19 and government restrictions, the 2020 WA Volunteer of the Year Awards was not held this year. All the incredible nominations submitted will be automatically transferred to the 2021 WA Volunteer of the Year Awards. Read our full response here.