The KM Charity Team is marking International Volunteer Day on Thursday (December 5) by offering a special, time-limited 25 per cent discount for its fundraising challenge events.

Organised by the United Nations, the day aims to celebrate and raise awareness of the enormous contribution that volunteers make to their communities.

The KM Charity Team and the schools it works with benefit significantly from the support and input of a wide range of volunteers.

These individuals provide important services in the KM Charity Team offices and help deliver green-travel and literacy initiatives in primary schools across the south-east – running walking buses and assisting with the reading-reward scheme Buster’s Book Club and the one-to-one reading-support programme Buster’s VIP Club.

As its contribution to International Volunteer Day, the KM Charity Team is encouraging people to sign up for the challenge events it runs for the benefit of voluntary organisations.

And anybody who does so on Thursday December 5 will be eligible to a 25 per cent discount when using the booking code VOLUNTEER25.

The challenge events include the Medway, Canterbury, Ashford and Maidstone heats of the KM Big Charity Quiz, a spring abseil, the KM Big Bike Ride, the KM Colour Run and Buster’s Charity Firewalk.

The discount code does not apply to child bookings for the Colour Run.

KM Charity Team acting general manager Karen Brinkman said: “Like most third-sector organisations, the KM Charity Team would really struggle to do what it does without the help of volunteers.

“We aim celebrate the work of our own and other organisations’ volunteers with our annual Kent Volunteering Awards, and also try to support them and the groups and charities they work for by generating revenue through our fundraising challenge events.

“So it would be fantastic if people marked International Volunteer Day by signing up for one or some of those events.”

The first KM Charity Team fundraising challenge event of 2020 is the Medway heat of the KM Big Charity Quiz on March 6, followed by the spring abseil on March 21.

The following month, the Canterbury heat of the big quiz takes place on April 17 and the KM Big Bike Ride is on April 26.

With the abseils, bike ride, colour run and firewalk, 70% of all the money generated goes to charities and good causes nominated by participants.

The beneficiary organisations of the quizzes are the 2020 KM Media Group charities of the year, who will share 25% of the revenue. They are:

• Kentish and Folkestone & Hythe Expresses: Kent Association for the Blind

• Kentish Gazette, Kent Online, kmfm and KMTV: The Aspinall Foundation

• East Kent Mercury: Martha Trust

• Dartford and Gravesend Messengers: YMCA Thames Gateway

• Kent Messenger: Friends of Five Acre Wood School

• Medway Messenger: Abigail’s Footsteps

• Sheerness Times Guardian and Sittingbourne News Extra: Citizens Advice Swale

• Thanet Extra: Age UK Thanet.

Besides raising revenue for other charities and good causes, the challenge events also help to fund the KM Charity Team’s core work providing green-travel and educational services and projects across the south-east.