Singapore needs 3,000 more volunteers by 2030

Among the new volunteering initiatives being piloted is Project Care, under which students pursuing or having completed master’s-level counselling programmes provide counselling-informed support to families.

The students will help families process their emotions, better understand their children’s needs and behaviour, and build confidence in parenting and care.

Another new initiative, Transition Support Companions, will pair volunteers with children and young people in out-of-home care to provide them a stable, trusted adult presence as they move between care settings.

The volunteers will provide continuity and emotional support during such transitions, helping children to adapt to new environments and relationships, and supporting placement stability and reunification efforts.

The MSFCare Network began piloting both initiatives earlier in 2026 and plans to expand them to 300 volunteers by 2027.

MSF said the shift in volunteerism reflects an effort to make volunteers a more consistent part of the support network surrounding individuals and families, while complementing the work of professional teams.

Even as volunteering takes on more structured and specialised forms, Tan, who chairs the Singapore University of Social Sciences board of trustees, said her motivation remained simple: a desire to make a difference.

Looking back at how volunteering has changed, Tan said efforts have become increasingly structured over the years, including through companies and organisations that can mobilise large groups of volunteers rather than recruiting them one by one.

But she said volunteering should remain accessible even to people who can give only a small amount of time.

“Volunteerism must be something like ‘I want to help’, and it starts with a simple act,” she said.

She gave the example of a woman she knows who cooked soup for a neighbour who had undergone an operation.

The gesture eventually developed into a friendship, with the woman later offering to help her neighbour buy groceries when she went to the supermarket.

“If I can give one hour of my time on a weekend, great. If I can give only one hour in a month, that’s also great,” Tan said.

“It should be something that you’re happy to do, and you want to do.”

She hopes volunteering can also become something passed down generations.

Tan recalled helping her mother run a drinks stall at fund-raising fairs for a children’s charity, which exposed her to volunteering from a young age.

She later joined the Girls’ Brigade in school and volunteered as a tutor to children at a home on Saturdays.

Tan said she has since tried to pass the same values on to her son.

“Hopefully, my son will pass these values on to his children,” she said.

She added that volunteering does not have to stop when people entered different stages of life.

“Being a volunteer, you can keep contributing year after year, even when you’re married. Even when you are a mother or grandmother, you can still continue contributing.”

MSF presented 266 awards at the ceremony to recognise volunteers, organisations and partners in the social service sector. Tan was the sole recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award.