CEO's Welcome
Welcome to the May edition of eNews. It's been a wonderfully busy and enlightening month as we celebrated National Volunteer Week 2020, along with our members, partners and volunteers.
This year we found different ways to acknowledge our volunteers and the vital contribution they make to our communities.
The #waveforvolunteers national social media campaign was a great success, with an overwhelming number of posts showing hundreds of ‘waves of appreciation’. It was incredible to see Western Australians join us in recognising and celebrating the 600,000 volunteers across the State. We also had wonderful support from the media with high levels of coverage throughout the week, featuring in over 20 radio interviews and several publications including Community News, Business News, The West Australian and ABC Perth Radio – just to name few!
Volunteering WA has responded to the concerns of the volunteering sector and released several specialised resources to help volunteers and Volunteer Involving Organisations navigate through the challenges faced by the COVID-19 pandemic. Our recent member survey revealed 65% of volunteering programs had been paused as a result of the COVID-19 crisis. We understand it has been a difficult time and hope these practical step-by-step guides will provide some helpful advice on resuming your volunteering programs, and the process to reengage and mobilise your volunteers safely.
We will continue to extend our assistance, resources and services to support the volunteering sector during COVID-19 and beyond.
Lastly, I would like to wish Adrienne Picone a fond farewell and wish her all the best in her new role and give a warm welcome to Mark Pearce, appointed as interim Volunteering Australia CEO commencing on 15 June 2020 following Adrienne’s departure.
Happy Volunteering,
Tina Williams | CEO Volunteering WA
Our News
National Volunteer Week 2020
Last week we celebrated National Volunteer Week, the annual celebration to acknowledge the generous contribution of our nation’s volunteers.
Perth’s most iconic landmarks and buildings were lit up ‘volunteering red’ throughout the week to show support for volunteers. To see a video of our beautiful city shining bright for National Volunteer Week, click here.
Thank you to all the community and corporate organisations across WA that recognised their volunteers through creative, virtual celebrations and videos, as well as those that shared inspirational stories of their amazing volunteers.
On social media, people across Australia showed their ‘waves of appreciation’ for volunteers by drawing a little smiley face on their hand and taking a snap to post on social media with the hashtags #NVW2020 and #waveforvolunteers. To view the wave gallery, see here.
A special thank you to our Patron, The Honourable Kim Beazley AC, Governor of Western Australia, for his National Volunteer Week welcome address. Our thanks also to Premier Mark McGowan and the Minister for Volunteering, Mick Murray MLA, for their messages of support and waves of appreciation.
To everyone who took part in this National Volunteer Week – Thank you!
COVID-19 Emergency Volunteering
Since the inception of the COVID-19 Emergency Support Volunteering website we have seen thousands of volunteers sign up to assist their fellow Western Australians. Volunteering WA has worked with a number of organisations to fill volunteer positions in the Perth metro area and regional Western Australia.
Positions such as delivery drivers, warehouse packers, phone support, marketing coordinators, gardeners and retail assistants have been filled by those who have registered through the emergency volunteering website. The organisations that have benefited from emergency volunteers are thankful they are able to continue to provide essential services to community members in need with assistance from volunteers.
If your organisation requires extra assistance from volunteers due to COVID-19, please contact us at emergency@volunteer.org.au.
Corporate Volunteering
Help us to help you! Does your organisation need assistance as it resumes operations post COVID-19? Join the scores of organisations that have been supported through the Skills-based Volunteering Program in areas including risk analysis, HR, accounting, process improvement, strategic planning and much more.
Contact the corporate team to discuss how your organisation might benefit from the expertise of a skilled volunteer.
Regional News
There were waves of appreciation across the regions during National Volunteer Week! Several radio interviews took place during the week to highlight the importance of volunteering in regional and remote Western Australia. Volunteer ‘thank you’ gifts made their way around WA, including warm beanies that were distributed to volunteers by organisations in the Wheatbelt.
Online ‘Step into Volunteering’ sessions were held for interested members of the public in the Pilbara and Kimberley, as well as a ‘Return to Volunteering’ session facilitated by the Pilbara Volunteer Hub. All place-based hubs are making a gradual return to their respective offices with online offerings continuing in the coming months.
New Staff Member
We would like to formally welcome Louise Giles to the Volunteering WA team.
Louise joined us in the role of Training and Development Manager this week. Watch this space for more news on Volunteering WA’s training program. Louise is looking forward to getting to know many of you over the coming months and hosting both the Volunteer Manager Network Meetings and Volunteer Leadership Network Meetings. Welcome aboard, Louise!
VIRA/VIKTOR
We are delighted to announce a new VIRA feature: unattended sign-in! If you go to the sign-in sheet and open the filter, this new feature will now provide you with an option to pop open a new tab that will display only the sign-in sheet.
You can log out of VIRA, and the tab remain active for up to 12 hours, so you can set it up at the start of the day and leave it running for your volunteers to use.
Sector News
New resources to support volunteers and organisations through COVID-19
Volunteers and Volunteer Involving Organisations (VIOs) now have access to specialised resources, developed by Volunteering WA, to help them navigate through the challenges faced by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Returning to Volunteering during COVID-19: This guide has been developed to help VIOs navigate through the process of returning volunteering programs and volunteers safely during COVID-19. A webinar is also available for VIOs on Tuesday 7 July, 2020.
Tips for Optimising Virtual Volunteering: With the growth in virtual communications, VIOs are embracing new ways to support their community through virtual volunteering by adapting existing roles or creating new ones. This resource will provide you with tips on managing virtual volunteer roles in your organisation.
COVID-19 and Informal Volunteering Groups: This guide is for individuals creating informal volunteer groups in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
New research - Volunteer experience during COVID-19
COVID-19 has impacted the volunteering sector substantially with almost two thirds of volunteers estimated to have paused volunteering between February and April 2020, new research shows. The researchers estimate that this reduction in volunteering is equivalent to 12.2 million hours per week.
This research is the first analysis of the impact of COVID-19 on volunteers and volunteering across Australia. The paper, commissioned by Volunteering Australia, from the Australian National University (ANU) Centre for Social Research and Methods undertook analysis of the experience of volunteers during COVID-19 to date.
Research Digest - May 2020
The latest collection of research reports, articles and papers relating to volunteering from Australia and around the world is now available, as a free resource for the Volunteering WA community and our researchers’ network.
This issue includes topics such as: volunteers’ experiences during COVID-19, inadvertent volunteer managers, youth volunteering, disability inclusive volunteering, HR and volunteer management, micro volunteers, emergency services volunteers and outcomes measurement.
Volunteer resources from Justice Connect
To celebrate National Volunteer Week, Justice Connect has created a broad range of free resources available for anyone to download.
The Justice Connect Not-for-profit Law team is Australia's only specialist legal service for community organisations and not-for-profits.
Volunteer Grants Activity 2019-20 Volunteer Grants
The Department of Social Services has published a list of organisations with successful Volunteer Grant applications. The Department of Social Services will formally advise all organisations, both successful and unsuccessful, by email by late May 2020.
National Reconciliation Week
During National Reconciliation Week (27 May - 3 June) we acknowledge that we all have a role to play when it comes to reconciliation.
The theme for #NRW2020 – In this together – reminds us whether in a crisis or in reconciliation, we are all in this together.
Training & Events
Member Connect and Share
Tuesday 9 June 2020 | 9.30am - 10.30am | Online
This is a regular informal catch up for Volunteering WA financial members every 2nd Tuesday of the month. The topic for this session will be steps to recovery and reactivating volunteers. Register here.
Impact of the NDIS on Volunteering in the WA Disability Services Sector
Tuesday 23 June 2020 | 2pm - 3.30pm | Online
The launch of the report from Volunteering WA’s investigation into volunteering in the disability services sector and how this has been affected by the introduction of the NDIS. Register here.
Returning to Volunteering Program during COVID-19
Tuesday 7 July 2020 | 10am to 11am | Online
Join us for this online session that outlines our six-step guide to getting your volunteer programs back up and running. Designed for small to medium sized Volunteer Involving Organisations, we will assist with getting your volunteers back with safety being the top priority. Register here.
Please visit our website here to see our upcoming events and training sessions.
New Members
A warm welcome to our new and returning members:
We look forward to working with you.
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West Leederville WA 6007