Issue no 1, January 2009

Meet the NSW Volunteer of the Year Award winners

Winners of the 2008 NSW Volunteer of the Year Award were announced at a gala ceremony on Friday, 5 December, at Sydney's Parliament House. ABC Radio host Adam Spencer MC'd the ceremony and and the NSW Minister for Volunteering, the Hon. Graham West, presented the Awards.

The winners of the 2008 NSW Volunteer of the Year awards are:

• Layne Beachley, the most successful female surfer of all time and seven-time world champion, and Founder and Chief Executive of the Layne Beachley Aim for the Stars Foundation, has been awarded the inaugural NSW Volunteer Ambassador of the Year Award;
• Ashfield resident Shu Fen Wang was named 2008 NSW Volunteer of the Year for her work over the past 10 years with the West Region Chinese Association;
• Krystle Marsh was named 2008 NSW Youth Volunteer of the Year for her work with Vinnies and the Australian Red Cross. Krystle has just completed year 12 student at Warilla High School;
• Lorraine Clark, of Warringah was named 2008 NSW Senior Volunteer of the Year for her contribution to the Special Olympics program for the past 18 years; and
• Optus' IT Commercial Director, Karen Carmichael, and Optus have been recognised for mobilising an exemplary Employee Volunteering program at Lurnea High School ... and been named the 2008 NSW Corporate Volunteer of the Year.

A zest for life Get Up & Go Award winner
Spring 2008 issue of Get Up & Go magazine.

Brian Eldridge is the winner of the 2008 Get Up & Go Award for Australia's most adventurous traveller. A quiet, modest man, Brian found that when you are made redundant from your job life doesn't always take a downward turn. He began the 'time of his life' with his wife as they discovered the adventure of volunteering combined with travel. MORE

Giving: How each of us can change the world
World Vision News

Oseola McCarty spent 75 years eking out a humble living by doing washing and ironing. Then she gave away her life savings of US$150,000 to the University of Southern Mississippi to endow a scholarship fund for young African Americans. This is just one of many inspiring true stories of people who are making a difference through their generosity. Giving: How Each of Us Can Change the World by former US President Bill Clinton, is not just a book, it's a call to action. MORE

Paul Newman: Hollywood legend, charity great
By Carly Goodhew

Sadly, American movie legend Paul Newman passed away at age 83 on 26 September, 2008. As a famous Hollywood actor, Paul received numerous accolades, including three Golden Globe Awards and an Academy Award for his performance in The Colour of Money (1986). His impressive film career spanned more than five decades with starring roles in more than 50 films. MORE

Norm and Kaye Hawes: Two pillars of the Central Coast Courtesy Transport Program of The Leukaemia Foundation
By Beth Zucker

Norm and Kaye Hawes started volunteering for the Leukaemia Foundation after spotting an advertisement for new volunteer drivers in their local paper. They were immediately interested because Norm's brother had suffered leukaemia.

Norm drives patients with blood cancers to and from treatment and Kaye coordinates the service to ensure the program runs smoothly. They both get a great sense of satisfaction from their involvement with the program. "You feel like you're doing some good, that's what it's all about for me," says Norm. MORE

Have your say on climate change

Have your say on climate change and register for the NSW Community Climate Summit, being held on 20–21 February 2009 (with an introductory evening on 19 February 2009) in Sydney.

The first of its kind in NSW, the summit will provide an opportunity for everyday Australians to discuss our response to the critical issue of climate change and to make recommendations to the NSW Government. Registrations close Wednesday, 21 January 2009. MORE

Volunteer Referral Service volunteers rule
John Forrest, volunteer, The Centre for Volunteering

The numbers say it all! The Centre for Volunteering operates with just 10 paid staff and approximately 100 volunteers working every week. In The Centre's Volunteer Referral Service (VRS), the volunteer contribution is even more noticeable with two paid staff (one full-time and one part-timer) working with more than 35 volunteers each week*. These volunteers work between four and sixteen hours every week. They handle 5,000 enquiries each year from would-be volunteers and interview and match some 3,000 of them with not-for-profit volunteer roles! MORE

Karen Carmichael: Partners in Learning
By Margaret Carter

Karen Carmichael is a passionate woman. She walks toward me in a fire engine red dress, short chic hair and a voluptuous, sexy figure. Karen drinks a long black coffee. We meet in the Blue Stone Café on the campus of Optus's luxurious corporate head office in Ryde in Sydney's middle north shore. Karen is ardent about her family, her company, her colleagues, and the students and teachers at Lurnea High, a large school outside Liverpool. MORE

Order your National Volunteer Week Pins and Posters

To help your organisation celebrate NVW 2009, Volunteering Australia, with the support of our sponsors, will provide free promotional material for not-for-profit organisations. Items will include an A3 poster and lapel pin. Ordering is through Shopping Cart accessed on the Volunteering Australia website. You can order any number of items up to the set maximum quantity (Poster – 200, Lapel pin – 100). There is a limited quantity of posters and lapel pins available and these Items will be removed from shopping cart when stock is depleted. Orders close at 4pm, Tuesday, 3 February 2009.
 

Volunteer passports 'creditable'
Siobhain Ryan, The Australian

Australia's 5.4 million volunteers could be issued with government-funded "passports" to allow them to earn credits from their work and avoid repeat police checks. Parliamentary Secretary for the Voluntary Sector Ursula Stephens said such a proposal could be used to provide gap-year students with a skills record from their community work to boost their chances of university entry. "We think a skills passport would be a very good way of documenting that kind of contribution, and help young people describe and articulate their skills," she said. MORE

The costs of volunteering: More needs to be done
International Volunteer Day e-forum discussion in sum
Volunteering Australia

We have been talking about the costs of volunteering for more than three years. As part of the International Volunteer Day celebrations an e-forum discussion on the costs of volunteering took place. While some of the comments were familiar and therefore current, there were new slants presented as well as some options to allay the negative impact of the costs of volunteering. The question about whether all volunteers wish to be reimbursed was raised. Whatever solutions we find, we do not envisage that all volunteers will want to be reimbursed as they consider the costs part of their commitment to volunteering. Volunteering Australia continues to raise the issue of the costs of volunteering and seek solutions because it hears from volunteers that the costs can form a constraint and potential barrier. MORE

Bullying and harassment in the workplace: A guide for paid staff and volunteers
The Centre for Volunteering

The effects of bullying in the workplace should never be underestimated. The Centre for Volunteering's Advice Hot Line receives calls from both paid and unpaid workers asking what they can do to counter bullying in the workplace. Paid staff reporting they are being bullied by volunteers and volunteers that they are being bullied by paid staff. Fortunately this does not happen very often but when it does, the person phoning is always very upset. MORE

The Centre for Volunteering: 2008 in review

C3P: Creating Community Corporate Partnerships
Odessa O'Brien, The Centre for Volunteering

Over the last 12 months we have had a huge increase in the number of Corporate Volunteering events which has come about due to the program launch of C3P: Creating Community Corporate Partnerships. C3P acts as a broker to connect corporations with not-for-profits in beneficial Employee Volunteering projects and activities.

The Corporate Volunteering activities have ranged from 100 Integral Energy employees and sub contractors helping out at an aged care facility to four Office for Fair Trading volunteers helping out at the Sculptures by the Sea event held at Bondi and Tamarama beach. MORE

SCIP/Youth volunteering
Maia Giordano, Youth Volunteer Program Manager

There have been many new developments in the Youth Volunteer Program during 2008. The new Youth Volunteer Program Manager has focused 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. MORE

School of Volunteer Management
Geoff Copeland, SVM Manager

This year has been one of consolidation and building for the School, to allow for a planned expansion of activities and services in 2009. The demand for PD Workshops and Customised Training was steady but enrolments in Accredited Courses more than doubled. Find out more about the activities the School undertook this year and plans for 2009.

Research and Policy
Tony Frew, The Centre for Volunteering

The Centre's Research and Policy department has been involved in a number of projects that have reached the stage of preliminary completion either through examination of available literature and/or pilot surveys. The interim reports will be made available on The Centre's website. They contain provisional details and illustrate the direction these areas of research will take in 2009. MORE

Membership
Jan Cosgrove, Membership Manager

The Centre's membership numbers have continued to grow and many organisations have provided The Centre with a wide range of ideas and valuable input.  Membership now covers over 195 postcode areas covering NSW and other regions. The Centre is looking forward to continuing its very much appreciated association with you in 2009.

On behalf of the staff and our liaison volunteers, The Centre's Membership Department would all like to take this opportunity to say thank a very big thank you to for your support throughout the year and to wish you a wonderful Christmas and a very Happy New Year in 2009.

Volunteer Coordinators Networking Event: 2009
Tuesday, 17 February 2009, 3–5pm
Level 2, 228 Pitt St, Sydney

Recruiting Volunteers via the Volunteer Referral Service (VRS): Making the VRS work for your organisation!

Encourage your volunteer coordinator to come along to the networking session to find out how the VRS process works, including questions asked by our Interviewers to determine the right referral, learn how to create effective job descriptions and recruit the right volunteer for the right volunteer role and also find out how Fido Skilled Volunteer Search connects skilled, experienced volunteers with not-for-profit organisations looking to recruit volunteers and its requirements.

RSVP today
All volunteer managers are very welcome to these events. Numbers are limited and booking is essential. There is a cost of $5 to attend and afternoon tea will be provided. Email Odessa O'Brien or phone 02 9261 3600 to RSVP.

Speak Up! Speak Out! and other Short Courses in 2009
In 2009 the School will again offer the SpeakersBank SUSO public speaking courses and a range of other Short Courses (2–3 hours). Find out more about the courses to be offered in the first half of next year.
 

Funded training through the Strategic Skills Program
Find out how you can get government funded training at diploma and certificate level. Enquire now for a Semester One start.

The Centre for Volunteering [ABN 28 002 416 024]
Level 2, 228 Pitt Street, Sydney NSW 2000
T: 02 9261 3600 | F: 02 9261 4033 | E: info@volunteering.com.au
www.volunteering.com.au
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