The TV star tells how memories of a little girl’s family reunion moved her to become a volunteer… and she wants you to do it, too! Wiping tears from her eyes, Konnie Huq recalls the day she saw a frightened little girl finally going home, years after a brutal war tore her family apart.

“It was one of the most moving things I’ve ever seen,” says Konnie. “Her parents were terrified their little girl was dead but, suddenly, their family was complete again.”

The TV presenter, who is fronting this year’s national Volunteers Week, was in Angola with the Red Cross when she saw volunteers from the charity’s tracing service bring the little girl home.

“Their work is amazing, it’s like being in a detective agency,” she says. “They follow clues, going from village to village trying to track people down.

“Sometimes it takes years to find them, sometimes they never do, but I was lucky enough to be there the day this little girl went back home.

“Her parents were shrieking and weeping with emotion – they were so overwhelmed.”

Volunteers Week, celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, aims to recognise the work done by the UK’s 22 million volunteers and encourage more people to give their time to causes they care about.

“There are lots of ways to get involved in volunteering,” says former Blue Peter presenter Konnie. “It’s not just all old, retired ladies working in second-hand shops. It can be much more exciting than that.”

Konnie, 33, became an ambassador for the Red Cross after her Angola experience.

“I was with the Red Cross as part of my job with Blue Peter,” she says. “But it was such a fantastic thing to do, and I got so much out of it, that I’ve been involved ever since.

“So many people have lost contact with their families around the world, and in Britain. For some, it’s caused by a natural disaster or war but it can be for lots of reasons.

“Because they haven’t seen their loved ones for years, it can feel like they have died. So to reunite these families is an end to all that terrible heartache.”

London-born Konnie believes her Bangladeshi family roots play a big part in her volunteering.

“I’ve been to Bangladesh regularly throughout my life and while my family was quite well off by the standards there, I saw a lot of people struggling,” she says.

“It makes you think how lucky you are. It could have been me and my family suffering in poverty and struggling to survive the floods.

“And even living in Britain, I could have been born into very different circumstances, maybe without such a great, supportive family.“Most of us are very lucky and it doesn’t take much effort to try to help people out. Some day we could all need a bit of help and compassion, and we’d appreciate it then.”

“You can volunteer by manning telephones during a disaster – that was vital during the tsunami and the London bombings when phonelines were frantic with people trying to find out about their families.

“You can also volunteer for other charities by giving advice over the phone and even online so you don’t have to leave your house. “Some of the most enjoyable ways of volunteering are within your community – on school boards, supporting ambulance staff by driving people to routine hospital appointments or by working in charity shops.

“You can do as much or as little as you want but just getting involved at all is great for you and for whatever organisation you’re helping.”

Konnie’s first experience of volunteering was much more modest. “I was still at school. We did weekly visits to an old people’s care home when we were in sixth form and just sat and chatted to the people who lived there. “It was lovely and we all got a lot out of it. We heard lots of their great old stories about when they were young and, as many of them had lived through the war, we learned a lot.

“But, more importantly, they really enjoyed telling us their stories and hearing about our lives and what young people got up to.”

Konnie has been involved with Cancer Research UK for a number of years. But the charity has grown even closer to her heart since her father was diagnosed with prostate cancer last year. “It was terrible news to hear,” says Konnie. “First, he had prostate cancer and then spread to his bones.”

Konnie, who left Blue Peter last year after 11 years, was the longest-running female presenter in the show’s history.

“I was in it for a long time so my work was steady,” says Konnie.

“Of course, I was scared when I left that all the work would dry up.

“But I’m trying not to worry about it as it hasn’t happened yet.

“I’m about to head off to Bangladesh for a week, then back here for some voiceover work, then straight over to Hawaii and Canada for Jack Osbourne’s Adrenaline Junkie show.

“I’ve also done some quite heavy talk-show work recently, which was really enjoyable. But because I look so young I found it could be quite hard to be taken seriously.

“I enjoyed doing it but at the minute I don’t want to settle straight into something like that… or anything else, really.

“I’m just enjoying all the fun and variety.”

For more information about Volunteers Week, visitvolunteersweek.org.uk or to learn more about volunteering with the Red Cross, see redcross.org.uk/volunteer

APPRENTICES from Crosby who were named best in Merseyside were presented with awards from ex-Blue Peter presenter Konnie Huq.

James Davies, 25, from Crosby has been named Apprentice of the Year and Adam Roman, 23, from Brighton-le-Sands has scooped Advanced Apprentice of the Year.

They won the accolades in the Merseyside heat of the Learning Skills Council North west Learner Awards.

Former Blue Peter TV presenter Konnie presented them each with a trophy and voucher at a glittering awards ceremony at Aintree Racecourse.

James, who is completing an apprenticeship in engineering at Eldapoint Ltd and trains at Knowsley Community College, said: “I’d like to say how pleased I am to receive this, and I’d like to thank my gorgeous wife Lindsay, everyone at Knowsley Community College and everyone at Eldapoint Ltd who financed me going to college and supported me.”

Adam, an apprentice in Amenity Horticulture with Glendale Liverpool who trains at Myerscough College, was delighted with the honour and said: “I’d like to thank my employers who have given me confidence and supported me through everything I’ve done, and to Myerscough College and also my mum for making me get a job.”

Konnie, who has a degree in economics from Cambridge University and spent more than 10 years hosting Blue Peter, told the audience of the importance of education and skills.

She said: “My parents came to the UK from Bangladesh in the 1960s to give me and my sisters a better start in life, otherwise I would have grown up in a Bangladeshi village with no education. You have no control over where you’re born – everyone here is lucky to have the opportunities available to them in Merseyside.”

Winners will compete in the North West with a view to securing a national win.