Poem written and read by Carmel O’Brien: 

Volunteers come in all shapes and sizes

They can be more or less old, rich or smart, 

But they have eyes open wide, and down deep inside

They’ve been blessed with an oversized heart.

Some volunteer to bring goodness from grief

Like the woman who founded SIDS,

And plenty of parents become volunteers

Because it is part of their love for their kids.

That’s how I came to organise scout camps,

And why I managed a basketball team;

Once I voluntarily painted a phone box red

After my kids had painted it green! 

Some volunteer because “it is there”,

Like Sir Edmund who conquered Everest,

And Madame Curie discovered radium

Proving that she was the cleverest.

The wheel, the nail and the paperclip,

Light bulbs and lemonade,

Were all invented in times gone by

By someone who wasn’t paid.

Who began the first schools and hospitals?

Who stormed the Bastille amid cheers?

Who do you think demolished the Berlin Wall?

Of course, they were all volunteers!

Maybe you’ve fostered a litter of puppies

Or cooked up a mountain of snags,

Or spent a few years amid blood, sweat and tears

Sorting through boxes of rags.

If it’s caring or cooking or counselling,

Or just wiping noses and bums,

Or getting your claws into some worthy cause

And doing some good with your chums,

Whatever you’re doing for nothing

The angels are smiling above

‘Cos the very best things that we ever do

Are the ones that we do for love.