`The fast-paced world that we live in is leaving us very little time for anything but work. Most people struggle to find time to spend with their families and the thought of sparing a few precious hours to a charity often seems impossible.' More than 300 volunteers have put in a total of nearly 16,000 man hours at the Bermuda Aquarium, Museum and Zoo in the past year, saving the organisation nearly $250,000.

But despite the massive effort by volunteer animal lovers, Aquarium bosses are still looking for fresh recruits.

At Tuesday's weekly Hamilton Rotary Club meeting, volunteer supervisor Heather Henderson said: "The biggest challenge for me is to try to find those precious few who are looking to broaden their horizons through volunteering.

"The 14 sections within our facility had the pleasure of receiving 15,996 hours of volunteer support in 1997-98. If you consider each volunteer hour to be worth $10 then really we manage to save both the Aquarium and the Bermuda Zoological Society $159,960. $15 per hour would bring us to $239,940.

"As high as these numbers sound we are, surprisingly, always looking for new volunteers. The fast-paced world that we live in is leaving us very little time for anything but work. Most people struggle to find time to spend with their families and the thought of sparing a few precious hours to a charity often seems impossible.'' The volunteer department at the Aquarium receives an average of two to three volunteer applications each week, many of whom are professionals offering their time on evenings and weekends.

Mrs. Henderson said: "Unfortunately weekday adult volunteers are much more in demand at this time so if any of you are interested or know of any interested individuals please complete a volunteer information form.'' Mrs. Henderson went on to praise the work of young volunteers at the facility.

"The Aquarium continues to be popular with Bermuda's young,'' she said. "We at BAMZ are very proud of our young people and their commitment to volunteer service.

"Each year presentations are made at each of the Island's secondary schools and students aged 14 years of age are invited to apply for a place in this year-long programme. Each applicant is interviewed and 12 are selected to join as junior volunteers.

"The junior volunteers rotate between the three sections at our facility, spending four months in the aquarium, invertebrate house and zoo.

"Participants are required to commit to work every weekend on either a Saturday or a Sunday and attend 12 monthly learning modules. The ultimate goal of the junior volunteer programme is to produce better, more conscientious citizens.'' Anyone interested in volunteering to work at the Aquarium should call 293-2727.