International Volunteers Day is nearly here

Volunteers working in Rio at the Casa Lar home for disabled boys

We think it's time to shout about how fantastic volunteers are, and it turns out that we're not alone.

Volunteers building classrooms in Tanzania earlier this year

The International Volunteer Day (IVD) was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 17 December 1985. Since then, governments, the UN system and civil society organizations have successfully joined volunteers around the world to celebrate the Day on 5 December.

Volunteers entertaining everyone in Villa Maria with one of their fab shows

IVD offers an opportunity for volunteer organizations and individual volunteers to make visible their contributions - at local, national and international levels - to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.

Volunteers working with locals building Sand Dams in Kenya this summer

The critical question is, however, what happens on 6 December? Newspapers may turn their attention elsewhere and sound bites may fade away, but the work of volunteers goes on with or without publicity and well-deserved recognition. The spirit of IVD must live on as well.

We would like to thank everyone who has volunteered on a Quest4Change project over the last 13 years. Thank you for all the funds you have raised which have helped buy materials to build schools, sand dams, enclosures, fences, signs and clinics.

Volunteer working with an Ocelot in Bolivia

Thank you for all the hours you have given through hard manual labour and walking pumas, to caring for disabled children. Here's to the next 13 years of grassroots volunteering in Africa and South America with Quest4Change.

Volunteers working hard in Malawi earlier this year

Take December 5th as a day to celebrate all you have achieved.