Department of Social Services Grant Funding
The new funding program for Commonwealth funded projects opened on Thursday 19 June. All organisations who want DSS funding for volunteering must apply in this round. More information

NSW Budget
The Treasurer tabled the 2014-15 Budget in Parliament on Tuesday 17 June, and there were some significant announcements that will positively affect the Volunteering sector. More information

Ignite Volunteering NSW State Conference
The State Conference is coming up on 10 July. Register NOW to take part in the key conference on Volunteering for 2014.

The Song Company
I commend to you the wonderful Song Company and if you are free on Saturday see the sidebar for information on the performance.

2014 NSW Volunteer of the Year Awards
Nominations for the NSW Volunteer of the Year Awards and #SelflessSelfies are flowing in steadily. Continue to encourage volunteers to nominate before the closing date of 31 August. Dates and Venues for the regional ceremonies can be found here

Current members
Thank you to all members of The Centre for Volunteering. We hope you have found the membership valuable and your support of volunteering is appreciated. We will be emailing your renewals shortly and look forward to working together with you in 2014-2015.

New members
If you are interested in membership with The Centre for Volunteering, please go to this link for more information www.volunteering.com.au/membership
Or call 9261 3600 to speak with our Membership Coordinator.
A highlight of membership is access to member prices for the upcoming Ignite Conference! Please contact us to discuss how you can access this benefit.

The NSW Government is providing subsidised training places in volunteer management.
The Office of Communities invites you to enrol in this program of four units from the nationally accredited Certificate IV in Volunteer Program Coordination CHC42712.
The four units include:

• Recruit and coordinate volunteers learn best practice recruitment, induction and management practices with your volunteers and volunteering programs
• Maintain Work Health and Safety processes are you compliant with the legislation? A great chance to review your processes and policies
• Promote team effectiveness create a winning team and learn strategies to improve team outcomes
• Deal with conflict learn to identify the cause of conflict and establish strategies to effectively deal with conflict.

The course will be delivered over two days, scheduled to start in July 2014 at:

• Blacktown – Tuesday  29 July & Monday 11 August
• Campsie – Monday 28 July & Monday 18 August

The subsidised cost is only $267per person (for those on an eligible Commonwealth benefit, it is only
$106pp and is free for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and those students with a disability).

Enrol today at Volunteer Management Program (choose either Blacktown or Campsie).

Hurry, enrolments close 1 July 2014.

For further information, please contact Mark Tippett at mtippett@volunteering.com.au or phone 02 9261 3600
 

The Centre for Volunteering assisted St George Bank in placing teams at a special “Scones 4 Good” Program benefiting isolated aged care residents. Staff commented that the Aged Care event was:
"very interactive and being able to cook the scones at the kitchen and actually give them out whilst spending time with the elderly was a very fulfilling opportunity”.

The bank has been actively promoting a month of volunteering for all staff and recorded 2197 volunteer hours during that time. The  team at St. George Head Office aimed to educate staff about different volunteering opportunities in the community.

The conference will explore the key facets of volunteering through the theme “The State of Volunteering”, and aims to meet the growing need to build knowledge, leadership and best practice in the volunteering space.

Register Now

Sessions will be centred on:

•     Funding
•     Research
•     Governance
•     Volunteer Motives
•     Youth Volunteering
•     Working with Children
•     Corporate volunteering
•     Workplace Health and Safety
•     Legal issues in Volunteer Management

Conference speakers include:

• Kerry Shields, Talent Sourcing & Onboarding Manager, Starlight Children’s Foundation
• Liz Morgan, Senior Lawyer, Not-for-profit Law, Justice Connect
• Meredith Osborne, Senior Project Officer ,Legal Aid
• Morgan Lander, Community Engagement, Office of the Children's Guardian
• Nathan Barker, Head of Volunteering and Community Engagement, Community Group Corporate Affairs, Commonwealth Bank of Australia
• Peter Valpiani, Manager - Business Services, Exodus Foundation
• Sarah Breavington, Mirvac
• Dr Andrew Crosbie
• Baron Rohbock
• Dr Caroline Webber, Green Olive Press

Find out more about the conference

The jam packed lineup for the conference is now online. The conference includes a number of breakout sessions - a very small selection includes:

• Dynamic Volunteering Practices, with Volunteering Gold Coast and the Australian Red Cross
• The Digital Age: Powering Volunteering, with SEEK, Volunteering Australia, Telefonica Vivo Foundation and Jeff Hoffman & Associates
• Volunteering and Trendspotting: What does the future hold?
• Collaborative Partnerships: Bonds to strengthen and sustain communities
• People, Passion and Participation: We can change the world