The Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) program today released a new book of volunteer stories as part of a two-day series of events to mark more than 40 years of fighting poverty in America.  Read article

London, UK: A group of young people from across England are gearing up to travel to Germany as part of an international bid to promote peace at the World Cup.  Read article

Edinburgh, Scotland: Scores of Polish immigrants in Edinburgh are giving charities a massive boost - by offering their services for free. With many of the 20,000 Poles who have flocked to the Scottish capital since the expansion of the European Union (EU) working in unskilled jobs such as waitressing or labouring, many are turning to unpaid volunteering to improve skills and their chances of getting better jobs.   Read article

Harare, Zimbabwe: Makope used to live on the streets of Harare. Now,  with help from nongovernmental organizations, he is filiming and writing about the lives of street children.   Read article

London, UK: "London Cares Day" attracted thousands of people to give services for free. Now in its second year, this private sector initiative will tackle 130 projects in 114 schools all over London.  Read article

Oxford, UK: Oxford University scientists said they were pleased with the response after 80 people responded to a plea for volunteers to test a new vaccine against the potentially deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu.  Read article

Geneva, Switzerland: Representatives of up to 40 Red Cross and Red Crescent National Societies are meeting in Geneva for "The Global Health and Care Forum" to strengthen the Federation’s international strategies on key health topics such as malaria, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, and avian influenza.  Read article

Philadelphia, USA: Leadership, communications skills, and resource development - often termed "power skills" in a business setting - are linked to early experiences for women in community service and non-profit volunteer activities. According to Power Skills research, "How Volunteerism Shapes Professional Success", a study conducted for Womens Way, these and other critical business skills, like problem solving, coaching/mentoring, and public speaking are developed and improved through volunteerism.   Read article

Australian retirees look forward to 'freedom' and are keen to volunteer, according to a new international survey into retirement by French insurance group AXA. British and US pensioners love to travel abroad, Germans plunge into sport, Canadians into charity work and the French go for gardening. Italians and Spanish are more prone to do nothing when they retire.  Read article

Quebec, Canada: More than 12,000 children participated this morning in the Caring for Others School Project, a volunteer awareness event organized by the 18 Centraides of Quebec, a volunteer-led organization, in Canada.  Read article