The Limassol Volunteers’ Coordinating Council celebrated International Volunteer Day (officially on December 5) on Friday.

In a statement, the city’s mayor, Nikos Nicolaides, said that the event has strong symbolic value and sends messages of love, compassion and solidarity during the festive season.

“I could not imagine our society without voluntary organisations,” he said, and expressed appreciation for the thousands of volunteers who support those in need making our society “brighter, warmer and more human.”

President of the Limassol Volunteer Coordinating Council, Stavros Olympios, said the response of the volunteers, in the difficult days of the pandemic and the crisis, was truly extraordinary.

Olympios thanked the Limassol municipality for granting the space where the Volunteer Monument was erected, which was inaugurated at the beginning of 2022 by President Anastasiades, saying it was the first monument in Cyprus –and possibly the world– honouring “the unknown volunteer.”