Volunteer Street

What took me aback on a recent trip back to Australia was how there seems to be more of a profile of volunteering over there, then when I left 15 years ago - I heard stuff on the radio almost daily and I saw adverts on TV and then there was the street sign... BUT, when I spoke to friends, most socially and community involved peopel, they seemed oblivious to it. I also noticed on a trip to San fran (May 07) when I went to Alcatraz there were signs about 'volunteer garderners in action here' in the 'handle' gardens there was a huge sign saying 'volunteers bsuy here' and on the back of a scooter a sticker saying 'volunteers are sexy'. When I asked the folks I was staying with, they were totalling aware and said 'oh, yes, service is very important here'... the investment in promoting volunteering was different between the two coutnries and my 'small sample' showed that the simpler promotions seemed more aware - or is it really just about cultural heritage? or atitude? Will the promotional awareness campaigns in the UK ever bring the ground swell that we could hope for? What do you think?