Beijing to award volunteers

Chaoyang district government in Beijing has given star ratings to 13,000 volunteers and promised to give them free or preferential services when they go to the cinema, the gym, or the barber in the district, in a gesture to encourage more voluntary work, Beijing Times reported on Tuesday.

Chaoyang district has about 310,000 registered volunteers, whose service amounted to 1.5 million hours last year.

The ratings scheme was launched last year to recognize the contribution of volunteers.

According to regulations on the management of volunteers in Beijing, they are rated based on their service time. Those who have served 100, 200, 500, or 800 hours are identified as one, two, three or four-star volunteers.

The recent assessment, the second of its kind by the district government, was made based on the volunteers' service time between Aug 11, 2010, and Dec 12, 2012.

Shi Chungang, an official with the district government in charge of community voluntary services, said detailed rewarding policies will be revealed online later this year.