Thousands more will be volunteering at the Paralympics, and by the end of the Games period, a total of 70,000 will have been involved.
Support for the awards is continuing to grow, with backing coming today from faith groups, leading sportsmen, and film and television personalities involved with charities.
Sir Roger Moore, the actor and ambassador for the children’s charity UNICEF, described volunteers as his “heroes”.
“I know, first hand, through my work with UNICEF just how important and vital volunteers are within the charity sector as without them UNICEF quite simply would not be able to carry out its work,” he said. “These people are my heroes and I salute them all.”
Kirstie Allsopp, the television presenter and an ambassador for family support charity Home-Start, said: “There are volunteers up and down the country who are giving their time and literally nothing would happen if they weren’t. People need to know how much is done by them.”
She added: “Lots of different work that I do involves people who are volunteering and it’s just quite extraordinary to see. The Olympic volunteers were wonderful, but there are volunteers up and down the country who are giving their time – and literally nothing would happen if they weren’t.
“People need to know how much is done by volunteers. More than that, people need to know that everybody needs to do something in their year when they are giving their time – even if it’s just joining a local litter-pick.”
Also backing the awards is Amir Khan, the boxer and Olympic medallist, who said: “If you think about what people have to give up to be a volunteer and the time they commit, it really is something we can be proud of as a country.”
Mike Gatting, the former England cricket captain and trustee of the Lord’s Taverners, one of the country’s oldest sports charities, said: “Without the support of so many committed volunteers up and down the country we wouldn’t be able to give anywhere near as many kids a sporting chance in life ... It’s about time volunteers were recognised for the enormous contribution they make to society.”
Kate Humble, the BBC presenter and president of the RSPB, said: “In the current economic climate, as people cut back on donations to conservation organisations and other charitable organisations, volunteers come into their own. Conservation owes an enormous debt to the huge number of people who give up their time: more often than not, they have to do things that are very unglamorous and not conducive to a good night’s sleep, like bat surveying. These people are doing a fantastic service.”
Martina Milburn, chief executive of The Prince’s Trust, said: “Volunteers are incredibly important to charities across the country, so it’s great to see their outstanding work being recognised. At The Prince’s Trust, we rely on the support of almost 6,000 volunteers who give their skills, time and expertise to help disadvantaged young people fulfil their potential. Three in four young people we help move into work or training, and we quite simply couldn’t achieve these kinds of results without our dedicated army of volunteers.”
Senior faith leaders also offered their support for the awards, which have already been backed by the leaders of all three main political parties.
The Most Rev Peter Smith, the Archbishop of Southwark, said: “When people give freely of themselves and their time, they contribute in however small a way to building up a civilisation of love, respect and concern for the welfare and well-being of others. Our society will only be the poorer without such continuing presence, cheerfulness and tireless dedication.”
Lord Singh, head of the Network of Sikh Organisations, said: “It’s quite amazing how much work is being done and how little it is recognised – it is so hidden.”
Farooq Murad, secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) said: “This is a good opportunity to promote role models and encourage a future generation of volunteers.”
Leonie Lewis, director of the Jewish Volunteering Network, said: “The positive impact of a wonderful summer of volunteering needs to be sustained.”
Readers are invited to nominate their unsung heroes by emailing volunteerawards@telegraph.co.uk.
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