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Hi

It's the 5th of December today, and that means its International Volunteer Day.
International Volunteer Day was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly back in 1985. Since then, governments, the UN system and civil society organisations from all around the world have joined together every 5th of December to take a moment to highlight and recognise the incredible work done by a vast array of volunteers.

Every day of the year, thousands of volunteers across Europe are selflessly giving their time to Scouting. There are many motivations for volunteering, but in Scouting, I know that all of our volunteers are interested in our big idea, of creating a better world by investing in the young people of today and tomorrow. I’m always impressed by the many types of volunteer roles that we have in Scouting, particularly those behind the scenes roles that often go unnoticed.

The European Scout Committee, quite rightly, recognises the value of volunteering and has been working hard over recent months to help associations with recruitment, recognition, training and management of adult volunteers.

For example, we have given advice and produced tools to help associations think about the trends in volunteering that affect Scouting. There are some trends that we have to follow and other trends that it’s probably right that we try to challenge. We have produced a Training Systems Toolkit to help associations evaluate and update their adult training systems, to ensure that they make reference to the new realities of what it means to be an adult volunteer in Scouting in the early 21st Century.

And importantly, we have been lobbying and pushing for greater external recognition of volunteering by the European Institutions and others.

Encouraging more adults to volunteer is a year round task. If you consider the committed work of the many adult volunteers all around Europe, carrying out every imaginable kind of activity to support the development and growth of Scouting, International Volunteer Day should be a day that never ends.

On behalf of all of us on the European Scout Committee and the European Regional Office, I offer sincere thanks for the contribution that you are making to help create a better world.

Oh, just before I go...

Can you do me a favour?

In Scouting, we're all running around too fast that we sometimes forget to slow down and think about the people around us. We could probably all do a bit better at saying thank you to the volunteers that we work with. Often, their valuable contribution goes unrecognised and all it takes to recognise what they do can be quite simple. For example, a personalised thank you card or email could be sent. Or, if you're really extravagant, it could mean a special 'thank you' dinner together or something like that. So, what I'd like you to do after watching this is to think of the volunteers that you work with and identify someone who you think would benefit from hearing you say 'thank you'.

Go on, Give it a try. You will be amazed at the joy you can bring to someone by taking the time to say 'thank you'.

Thank you for watching. Keep up the good work.

Craig Turpie
Chairman, European Scout Committee