Agency for Volunteer Service (AVS) founded in 1970, is dedicated to playing a proactive and pivotal role in the development of sustainable volunteerism. In 2011, on the occasion of the 10th Anniversary of International Year of Volunteers (IYV+10), AVS drew up the Hong Kong Volunteer Charter so as to foster the quality practice of volunteering.

The Volunteer Charter (the Charter) stipulates the essence and values of volunteerism, benchmarks volunteer practice and sets out the service environment that facilitates volunteering. It covers 4 main aspects: (1) volunteerism, (2) values, (3) practice and (4) service environment; which are applicable to both informal volunteering (non-organization based volunteering) and formal volunteering (organization based volunteering).

As the pioneer in promoting volunteerism in Hong Kong, AVS believes that the Charter can spell out the values of volunteerism and let those who wish to devote themselves in volunteering understand their obligations, the code of practice for being a volunteer, as well as the essential service environment. It also can provide volunteer-involving organizations (VIOs) the relevant guidelines which enhance the quality and the effectiveness of volunteer service, help foster the interaction among volunteers, service recipients and the organizations, and in turn.

In pursuit of quality practice and professionalism in volunteering, AVS compiles the Practice Reference Guide (the “Guide”) as a complement to the Charter, to provide practical guidance for volunteers and volunteer-involving organizations(VIOs). The Guide is not a manual for managing volunteers. It is prepared primarily from the perspective of volunteers performing their roles in different context and covers detailed volunteering guidelines and the expectations of volunteers in working with VIOs and the service recipients. Volunteering with proper support ultimately will bring greater benefits to all parties concerned.

To know more about the Hong Kong Volunteer Charter, please click below links.

• Hong Kong Volunteer Charter Full Text
• Hong Kong Volunteer Charter - Practice Reference Guide

You feedback is always welcome. Please send to iov@avs.org.hk