SCIP/Youth volunteering report: 2008 in review

12 December 2008 | Maia Giordano, The Centre for Volunteering

There have been many new developments in the Youth Volunteer Program during 2008. The new Youth Volunteer Program Manager has focussed on increasing the awareness of the Student Community Involvement Program (SCIP) through promoting The Centre to new networks, advocating to increase the uptake of youth volunteers, and increase the number and variety of organisations involved with SCIP.

SCIP has been promoted to new networks of teachers that run youth volunteer or community service programs, such as the NSW and ACT International Baccalaureate (IB) Coordinators. The Centre's youth volunteer program has also been promoted through the following websites: IB, Institute for Study Abroad – Butler University, ActNow and Teenz Connect.

The SCIP seminars (formerly known as Community Education Days) are the cornerstone of the SCIP program. They aim to educate, inspire and empower students to get involved in their local community through volunteering. In 2008, there has been a massive increase in-almost double-the number of students partaking in the SCIP seminars. This has meant an increase in SCIP speakers, particularly as The Centre's SCIP members are coming from new regions such as Western Sydney.

The success of the SCIP seminars would not be possible without the generous time and support of speakers from the following not-for-profit organisations: Amnesty International, Animal Liberation, Asylum Seekers Centre, Brain Injury Association of NSW, Conservation Volunteers Australia, House With No Steps, Inspire Foundation (ActNow), International Student Volunteers, NSW Wheelchair Association, Red Cross, St Vincent de Paul Society, Special Olympics Australia, Sunnyhaven Ltd. (Formerly St George Area Intellectual Disability Services), Sydney Heritage Fleet, The Benevolent Society, The Wilderness Society, Vision Australia, Wildlife Information Education and Rescue Service (WIRES) and Youth Challenge Australia. Thanks to all the speakers this year for their engaging presentations. To support these organisations The Centre now offers SCIP speaker profiles. These profiles offer information about the organisation, opportunities and benefits of volunteering.

The Youth Volunteer team have presented volunteer workshops to young people from all over Sydney through youth conferences, youth leadership and Student Representative Council Events. Thanks to Angela O'Connell and Ben Hanckel for assistance with presentations throughout the year.

There is increasing awareness among schools, state government and universities of the value and benefits of encouraging young people to engage with their community through volunteering. With this in mind, 2009 promises to be a busy year for The Centre's Youth Volunteer Program.