hospitals to sporting organisations and from youth clubs to environmental groups. Volunteers are the key to success. Endless time is given, often by busy people, to any number of causes which benefit Bermuda and Bermudians.

Much of the governing of Bermuda has traditionally been conducted by boards and committees which are volunteer except for a small stipend. Bermudians over the years have taken both pride and pleasure from such service and, by and large, have served well and faithfully. Both the City of Hamilton and the Town of St. George are also run by elected volunteer Corporations.

As Bermuda has become a busy place with both parents working or single parent families, there are indications that younger Bermudians are not working for their interests in the way their parents did. There are of course notable exceptions. In recent years the charity volunteer pool has become more and more non-Bermudian. People who live here and either cannot or do not work, many of them wives of people working for international companies, have enhanced Bermuda's charities. However there are also a large number of international company executives who volunteer, especially for fund raising projects. But the overall impression must be that there are less and less Bermudians making a contribution.

Some of this comes about because of the greater efforts needed to run businesses and professions today. Inevitably busy lifestyles cut into volunteering. There are also more and more organisations competing for the volunteer pool which is not bottomless. It may be that there is just as much work being done today but that it is less obvious because it is spread more widely.

In a recent speech to Hamilton Rotary Club, Bank of Bermuda President Henry Smith said, "I have a particular concern here about charitable and civic contributions. I sit on a couple of boards of charitable organisations, and I don't mind telling you, I am a very busy person and I don't have a lot of spare time for such activity. And when I go to the meetings, I look around the room and I see people just like me -- very busy -- often other CEOs. I sometimes wonder where all the younger Bermudians are. I think there are a few young people out there who are doing very well out of Bermuda, thank you very much, and I would like to see them giving the rest of us a little more time and effort.'' The truth is that volunteering and giving back to Bermuda is one of the foundations of this Country. Without it it is difficult to imagine where we would be. In the public's eyes success is often judged by the contributions people make outside their work.