Around 29 million people in Germany volunteer to work for the common good every day – without pay and in their free time. Without this voluntary effort, many effective organisations in society would not be able to do the valuable work they do with great vigour day in, day out. It is a cause that is also very important to Borussia Dortmund. 

Therefore, at the Bundesliga home match against Leipzig, to mark International Volunteer Day, which has been held on 5 December every year since 1986, BVB honoured numerous volunteers from partner organisations of the club’s own foundation “leuchte auf” and from around the club for their tireless and important commitment.

As a sign of recognition and appreciation for their voluntary commitment, various representatives of the organisations were invited to SIGNAL IDUNA PARK for a joint photo on the pitch in front of the Südtribüne. In addition, BVB and its partners showed their appreciation to the volunteers with invitations to Bundesliga matches, stadium tours and “Thank You” packages they had put together..

Background

Every year, on 5 December, volunteers are recognised and encouraged for their charitable work. International Volunteer Day was officially approved by the UN in 1985 and has taken place every year from 1986. Whether it’s working for the volunteer fire brigade, taking in refugees or in sports, volunteers take on tasks in many areas of life for which there would otherwise be no one to do the work or full-time employees would be needed.

Since 1999, the German Football Association (DFB) and the German Football League (DFL) have also drawn attention to the importance of voluntary work as part of the “Danke ans Ehrenamt” (Thank you to all the volunteers) initiative. This year, the campaign for International Volunteer Day took place on Bundesliga Matchdays 13 and 14, as well as Matchdays 15 and 16 of the Bundesliga II in the stadiums of professional clubs, highlighting the services the approximately 1.6 million volunteers provided for football.

If you also want to volunteer, you can contact the Dortmund-based volunteer agency FreiwilligenAgentur Dortmund, for example. FreiwilligenAgentur Dortmund have been a central point of contact for voluntary work since 2022, acting at the interface between citizens looking to volunteer and organisations from all areas of life that are looking for a helping hand. The advisory services they offer are free of charge and non-binding. For more information, please click here.