Join us and #PassTheSpark this International Volunteer's Day
This International Volunteers Day (5 December), we’re celebrating you and all VSO volunteers – who are rebuilding trust, strengthening communities and creating real change from the ground up.
It’s a moment to recognise the choice every volunteer has made to stand alongside communities, so everyone has the chance to thrive. Because when volunteers take action, potential is nurtured, shared, and multiplied.
VSO volunteers are the spark at the heart of this work.
At 10:00 (your local time), the VSO Volunteering Community around the world will join in the Global Spark Moment — a rolling wave of stories and action that will help ignite the movement leading into the International Year of Volunteers 2026.
How to take part
Choose one of the graphics we've created for you on your mobile or computer by clicking on download my banner and selecting one you prefer.
On December 5 at 10:00 am, share the graphic on social media, along with your story using: “My spark for lasting change is…”
Include #PassTheSpark and tag VSO on your preferred social platform. You can find us on:
- Facebook: @vso.international
- Instagram: @vsointernational
- LinkedIn: @VSO
- X: @VSO_Intl
Your story - your spark - helps show the world what volunteering can do.
Life isn't always about what you can gain, but how you can impact your neighbour's life - Lawrence Ochieng, Community Volunteer in Kenya.
When you share your spark story on Facebook, Instagram or on X, with the hashtag #PassTheSpark and @VSO, your story will be shown alongside all others on the wall below.
Watch our film
Read more about how VSO volunteers spark others
A ripple of change: how VSO volunteers are transforming communities
Every act of volunteering begins with a choice — a decision to act out of a desire to make a difference. Across the world, VSO volunteers are proving that one spark of action can ignite something much bigger.
The two volunteers empowering girls and young women in Mozambique
Nelma and Carmirene and are two volunteers working on VSO's EAGLE project in Mozambique. For Nelma and Carmirene, education is not just about school, it is about meeting people where they are and using the right tools to challenging harmful norms. Here are their stories.
Opening doors to safety, education, and a brighter future
For girls in Karamoja, the poorest region in Uganda, being forced into early motherhood is all too common. This Christmas, you can open the doors to Safety, Education, and a Brighter Future.
This Christmas, will you help open the door to a rescue centre for a girl like Alice?
Girls like Alice who live in extreme poverty, face many dangers. School is often the one place they feel safe, but not for long. Girls as young as nine are forced out of education and into marriage and motherhood.
Real change happens when people like you choose to act. VSO volunteers bring communities together to keep girls like Alice safe and learning. Donate this Christmas to ensure no girl stands alone and no dream is out of reach.