Volunteering epitomises everything that is good about humanity. Individuals who manage and juggle their responsibilities whilst looking to give and help others goes unnoticed. This past year we were reminded about the good in people, how warm and selfless they can be in times of great uncertainty. Often when we receive kindness or someone's time without a return it can be taken for granted.

Between April 2020 and April 2021, the National Emergencies Trust: https://nationalemergenciestrust.org.uk/ raised £97m to support the local and national response to the pandemic by voluntary and community organisations across the UK. Most of these funds were allocated to local Community Foundations to support local responses.

It's Time to Talk Day today, which is an opportunity to get the whole nation talking about mental health. This year’s theme is ‘the power of small', because a small conversation about mental health has the power to make a big difference. We know, from our members, that many of them have seen an increase in the number of contacts to their service where mental health is mentioned or is involved.

Over the last six months Helplines Partnership has been working with its member organisations and BT to ensure Ofcom protect public call boxes which are used to call helplines.

The new changes announced by Ofcom mean that public call boxes are safeguarded from removal if there is evidence they are being used to make calls to one of Helplines Partnership’s member helplines.

We were pleased to present The International Seafarers’ Welfare and Assistance Network (ISWAN) with their Helplines Standard certification.

ISWAN is an international maritime charity which works to improve the lives of seafarers and their families with services, resources, strategies and advocacy.