People of faith are the unsung volunteering heroes

Abigail McMillan, parish volunteer, St Mary's, Harborne, Birmingham

This week (1-7 June) marks volunteer's week - an annual celebration of the millions of people who give up their time to help their communities and country - and this year, there are more people to thank than ever before.

"During the coronavirus pandemic, we have seen some amazing feats of volunteering to support the coronavirus response both here and overseas - and people of faith have been some of the unsung heroes," said Christine Allen, Director of the Catholic international aid agency CAFOD.

"During this time of crisis, I've seen so many people from across the different faiths providing care and support not only for our neighbours that live next door, but our neighbours from all over the world.

"They are in every corner of the country and will often have been volunteering before but in the last few months they have really stepped up - providing a much-needed light in this dark time.

The global coronavirus pandemic has seen people reach out to neighbours in need, volunteering their time and energy to deliver food, act as a friend to someone in isolation, and fundraise for charity through crafts or challenge events. And people of every faith have been at the forefront of many of these responses.

Christine continued: "People in the UK are looking out for their neighbours, but they are also standing in solidarity. Over the past few months, here at CAFOD, we have seen our numbers of volunteers and the time they are willing to give increase - equating to over 100,000 extra hours volunteered to help some of the world's most vulnerable communities."

"Through our global church networks, we have been able to support hundreds of local organisations and experts to provide life-saving and life-changing care in their communities.

"And, in countries where there isn't a social safety net, the faith communities provide essential health and education services as well as livelihoods and human rights support."

CAFOD has more than 6,305 volunteers across England and Wales - the equivalent of 8,547 individuals split across 15 volunteering roles. An average of 27,862 hours are volunteered each month, or 334,344 over the course of a year - 100,000 more hours than last year. The equivalent of £2.9million worth of volunteering time is calculated as if everyone was paid the living wage of £8.75 per hour.

Further information can be found in the annual report.

Find out more about CAFOD's work at: www.cafod.org.uk