Next Tuesday 5 December is International Volunteer Day – and it’s the perfect opportunity to shout out the amazing volunteers across the Northern Beaches who make our community a better place.

This year’s theme is ‘If everyone did’, which speaks volumes about the impact that each volunteer’s effort can make.

At Council alone, we have more than 1,000 regular volunteers who support 13 services ranging from libraries to Bushcare, Meals on Wheels and visitor services. We couldn’t do it without them. 

2023 has been a big year for Council’s volunteers – this is what they’ve been up to:

• Over 20,600 meals delivered by Meals on Wheels volunteers, with one amazing volunteer celebrating their 40th year of service
• 3,500 deliveries by Home Library Service volunteers
• Over 750 Tech Help volunteer visits, supporting our community to engage with the digital world – The team did an extra 500 sessions this year compared to last!
• Over 8,000 people served by Justice of the Peace volunteers
• Over 60 new student volunteers in the library service, with more than 70 students completing either a Gold, Silver or Bronze Duke of Edinburgh in 2023
• Manly Visitor Information Centre and Manly Art Gallery & Museum volunteers welcomed thousands of visitors
• Over 500 Bushcare volunteers have spent over 7,500 hours restoring 60 bushland reserves and propagated 30,000 native plants at our two community nurseries
• Over 100 site volunteers have carefully monitored 178 Aboriginal heritage sites providing valuable feedback to the Aboriginal Heritage Office and its partner councils to ensure the ongoing conservation and protection of these important spaces
• Volunteers placed Australian flags on over 500 veteran graves on ANZAC Day at Manly and Mona Vale cemeteries as part of the Honour the Fallen program and tended to more than 150 overgrown graves during the year
• And to see the year out, 60 experienced event volunteers will be taking the stage on Thursday 7 December for the 2023 Christmas Choral Concert.

What amazing work from our incredible volunteers. If you’re looking for volunteering opportunities on the Northern Beaches you can find them on our website.