Volunteering week is approaching (21-27 May) and Volunteering Australia, the peak body of volunteering is urging Australians to volunteer and contribute their time, knowledge, skills and resource to improve Australian communities for betterment.
While people might underestimate volunteering, it actually has great impact towards Australian communities. Though what are the reasons and benefits people will get from volunteering? Who can people volunteer with, how and where can they find information about volunteering? Adrienne Picone has worked with volunteers for the past 15 years and currently is the CEO of Volunteering Australia. Here is what she has to say about volunteering.
Listen to full interview here:
Volunteering Australia CEO Adrienne Picone maintained that “Volunteering Australia is the peak body for volunteering and our role is to promote, acknowledge, celebrate and represent volunteering right across the country. And as you probably aware, volunteering crosses every sector from arts to sports emergency services the environment and community welfare, they are pretty no pocket of the communities that volunteer doesn’t touch.”
”What we often hear is from volunteers is they tell us that they get more than they give, and people volunteer for so many reasons, you know sometime they volunteer to build their network, to making friend, some time they volunteer to get more skills, and build something on their CVs (Curriculum vitae).''
As volunteer week is closing in, Ms. Picone said that it is important to celebrate and recognise the contribution of economic and social contribution from six million volunteers worth $290 billion to Australian communities.
"I think that often we underestimate the contribution that volunteers make. But volunteering is going across everywhere in the community, and some time we almost take it for granted, we often talk about it in hidden hindsight, so much apart from our community and our culture that we often don’t even acknowledge it. But without volunteering, so many of our vital services for example the SES, emergency services would be greatly limited and we would not have the services that we have now. So really across Australia, 290 billion dollars of services to communities every year is actually incredible for the economic as well as social contribution that volunteers made,” Ms. Picone addressed.
Volunteering Australia CEO Adrienne Picone explains there are different reasons behind volunteering. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics over two-third of Australia’s volunteers just want to help others but half of all volunteers have been volunteering over 10 years to make Australian communities stronger. Do we really pay much attention to volunteering?
”What we often hear is from volunteers is they tell us that they get more than they give, and people volunteer for so many reasons, you know sometime they volunteer to build their network, to making friend, some time they volunteer to get more skills, and build something on their CVs (Curriculum vitae). And I think whatever the reasons that people get from volunteering, I think they really get a lot out of volunteering. It has great benefits to the volunteers as well as to the communities and we really recommend that people get involved,” Adrienne Picone revealed.
So what will Volunteering Australia do during National Volunteering Week and if people want to volunteer what should they do?
Volunteering Australia CEO Adrienne Picone elaborated about volunteering role that ”So the theme this year for National Volunteer Week is give a little change a lot. And what we are trying to demonstrate through the theme is no matter how much time you have, or how little time you have, or what sort of skills you have or what your background is, there is really a role out there for you and there is really a way that you can make a different in your community. If people are interested in getting involved, we really suggest that you use national volunteering as if a springboard as an opportunity to actually get out there and find a role for you. You can go online to the Volunteering Australian’s website and look through go volunteer, we have thousands of volunteer opportunities rights across the country and I really guarantee that there is something for everyone.”
Besides Volunteering Australia, who else can help you land a volunteer role?
“Our role is sort of oversight role and that so we have our website so we can advertise all volunteer positions, but across the country there are state and territory volunteering peak body who will help people to find volunteering roles, and there are also a lot of volunteering resource centres or volunteer supports services across the country who actually interview potential volunteers, help them find a role that they might enjoy doing and help them link into the organization that they might interested in,” Adrienne Picone suggested who can land a hand.
"We know that we won’t achieved the sustainable development goals without people’s power."
Volunteering Australia’s CEO Adrienne Picone said that even though volunteering is acted locally it impact globally.
”The theme this year is very much tying with the UN sustainable development goals. We know that we won’t achieved the sustainable development goals without people’s power, and volunteer is much part of that people’s power, they are the ones that actually helping in there and helping to achieve the goals. So there are 17 goals and we’ve got until 2030 to achieve those goals. And what we are trying to convey to the community to volunteer and to organisations that involving in volunteer, even though you might work at very local level, that local work actually have a global significant and a global impacts, so everything we do have a ripple effects and everything we do can contribute to global goal,” Adrienne Picone claimed act locally impacts globally.
So what is the message that Ms. Picone want to send a message to Australian communities during during National Volunteering Week?
Adrienne Picone concluded that "I guess the message that we really want to send is that volunteer is really make a difference to the communities, and I think it ties in with peopl’s values and people want to make a difference and wanting to bring about changes in the communities. So people are interested in doing that if they wanna live according to their purposes and according to their values, volunteering is really a great way to do that. I am really encourage them to go to the Volunteering Australia website or to go on to go volunteer where they search through the many roles that are available and find them contact someone that they actually want to talk to somebody in one of the stateabout what volunteering opportunity are available.”#
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