The Year to Volunteer - Society celebrates National Volunteer Week

To mark National Volunteer Week from Monday 18 to Sunday 24 May 2026, St Vincent de Paul Society Queensland is celebrating the good works of our volunteers and volunteer Members across the state.

This year's National Volunteer Week theme, Your Year to Volunteer, invites all Australians to discover how giving their time can create connection, purpose and lasting community benefit. 

St Vincent de Paul Society is supported by 2,689 Members and 5,051 Volunteers in Queensland, whose collective contribution is what makes the Society’s mission of giving vulnerable people a hand up possible. 

Volunteer Tony Lavin, 63, is one of those volunteers, giving his time at one of the Society’s Vinnies Shops.

Tony says volunteering at Vinnies’ Paddington store has given him renewed purpose following an Alzheimer's and dementia diagnosis 15 months ago.  

For Tony, volunteering has become a way to stay connected with others, contribute to his local community and find joy in helping people each week. 

“After my diagnosis, I couldn’t work anymore and my GP recommended I take up volunteering – and it has 100 per cent helped me,” he said. 

“It gives me a purpose in life and a reason to wake up in the morning and be happy that I’m actually doing something for somebody. 

“My daughters can always tell the days I’ve been at Vinnies because my brain is a lot more alive – I’m a lot more positive, my sense of humour is back and I just feel more relaxed.” 

In 2026, volunteering is being recognised globally through the United Nations International Year of Volunteers, highlighting the vital role of volunteers in society, at a time when national data shows participation in formal volunteering has declined in recent years. 

To find out more about volunteering opportunities with St Vincent de Paul Society Queensland, visit https://www.vinnies.org.au/qld/get-involved/join-us.

From our Volunteers and volunteer Members across the state:

• “Volunteering broadens your life. You might go into it thinking you’re there to help someone else, but sometimes they help you more than you help them” – Lindsey, Toowoomba Youth Volunteer.
  
  
• “To me, volunteering is a sense of purpose. I literally skip into Vinnies. Whatever your skill is, there's a way to use it to help someone else” – Donna, Burleigh Heads Shop Volunteer.
  
  
• “Volunteering is simply about showing up with compassion and a willingness to help people get back on their feet” – Helen, Nambour Member.
  
  
• “Vinnies gives you a perspective that you are not working in isolation. You belong to a very large international, global community and network” – Isabella, VRAP (Vinnies Refugee Assistance Program) Volunteer.
  
  
• “It’s not always easy – but it’s never not rewarding. Every day feels like you’ve achieved something special” – Peter, Gladstone Member.