Volunteering across the world

The past few weeks have seen a host of worthwhile happenings in the volunteering community both here and overseas. London has been a vibrant hub of volunteer activity with 70,000 volunteers from 70 countries converging on the city to help make the 2012 Olympics a fantastic success. Media coverage of this massive volunteering effort has been overwhelmingly positive and this will undoubtedly help boost the profile of volunteering across the world. Visit unv.org to learn more.

The Olympic volunteering experience also provides a timely foundation for the upcoming IAVE (International Association for Volunteer Effort) World Volunteer Conference which will take place in the same city in December this year. In 2012, the conference will have a focus on corporate volunteering and youth engagement. The Global Summit of Volunteer Centres will also convene for the first time during the week. For more information or to register visit iave.org/london2012.

Back on Australian shores, Volunteering Australia has given national volunteer matching service, GoVolunteer, a makeover. The site, which is offered in partnership with SEEK, now boasts more than 10,000 individual volunteering opportunities across the country. The update includes a new streamlined design, more detailed opportunity listings and improved search features. Visit govolunteer.com.au to check it out.

In Western Australia, volunteer innovators Useful Inc. have launched their first iphone app for Big Help Mob. Useful Inc. are committed to making volunteering a mainstream activity and encouraging people who haven’t volunteered before (especially young people) to get involved. Useful Inc.’s mission is "to make doing good as mainstream as cheeseburgers and breathing."

Useful Inc. liken Big Help Mob to a flashmob, and describe it as "a rent-a-crowd of ordinary people who combine their powers to perform extraordinary feats of strength for communities and non-profits who need help." The site and the app offer a wealth of fun, short-term activities (in Perth for now) to get people engaged in their local communities. Current projects include the packing of 20,000 audio books for blind people in South Africa, a mass planting on the banks of the Canning River and a gardening blitz for senior citizens. Visit bighelpmob.org to learn more.