<p>Last year was the United Nations International Year of Volunteering. This provided a unique opportunity for organisations around the world to promote and celebrate volunteers and volunteering. The Year was brought to an official close in New York City last December by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. He acknowledged that the Year gave ‘a better perspective on how we can encourage volunteer action at home and abroad and give it the respect it deserves. If our hopes of building a better and safer world for all are to become more than wishful thinking, we will need the engagement of volunteers more than ever before’.</p>