e-news member,

1. CEO's Welcome
2. Garden Party tickets - Don't miss out
3. Certificate of Recognition for Volunteers
4. National Volunteer Guide
5. VIRA
6. Supporting Communities Forum Update
7. Training & Events
8. Digital Awareness Workshop
9. Shout out Saturday
10. New Members

CEO's Welcome

What a busy and productive time we’ve had this month with two key events in the volunteering calendar.

On 5 November we celebrated International Volunteer Managers Day by hosting a forum on Unravelling Wicked Problems. With an audience of 70 people, facilitated by Claire Stokes, our guest speakers Dr Megan Paull, Dan Minchin and Dr Nicky Howe did a fantastic job in addressing the problems that have affected their quadruple bottom line.

Following on, our Volunteer Leadership Network panel reviewed some of the implications and potential road-blocks to tackling these problems. My sincere thanks to everyone that presented and attended and to VWA’s Manager Training & Sector Development, Gilda, who certainly made the forum fun with a door prize and a special cake for Volunteer Managers. We received wonderful feedback and will ensure that the outcomes are acted on and another event is planned for in 2019.

On 14 November, we hosted our 11th Homeless Connect Perth event in Northbridge. Personally it is the third time I’ve attended this event and each year I am humbled and privileged to see the incredible work that our team puts into running this event, not to mention the 275+ volunteers on the day. It takes months of planning and although it is a lot of work, we are all rewarded by watching over 2000 guests utilise services such as free haircuts, specialist advice, medical, dentistry and lots more. It was our pleasure to dine with them in our pop-up restaurant and to watch them enjoy their special day. I thank all our supporters of this incredible event that is changing lives in Perth.

Lastly, I want to bring to your attention a useful new resource produced by the Department of Communities that was launched on International Volunteer Managers Day.

Volunteer Checks Information for WA Volunteer Involving Organisations has been developed to support organisations to make informed decisions when recruiting volunteers. The Guidelines outline when and why screening of volunteers should be considered, applicable legislation and mechanisms, and includes tools and templates to support informed decision making and risk management. Interestingly, there is no WA legislation requiring VIOs to screen volunteers. However, some VIOs are subject to legislative and industry requirements for volunteers working with children, in aged care, on boards or committees, or those who are visitors and tourists to Australia.

To download a copy, click here.

Look forward to seeing you at the Garden Party.

Happy Volunteering,

Tina

Garden Party tickets - Don't miss out

With International Volunteer Day (IVD) just around the corner, plans are underway to create the perfect garden party to celebrate with your volunteers. IVD is held on 5 December and is the day designated to recognise the astounding contributions that volunteers make all over the world.

This year’s theme ‘Volunteers build resilient communities’ acknowledges the enormous contributions volunteers make within our local communities.

The annual Garden Party  is a highlight in the volunteering calendar year and one that has been a tradition since 1988. The party is held in the exquisite manicured gardens of Government House and is an afternoon of celebration and recognition of your organisation’s volunteers.

Last year this event attracted 500 of our wonderful members and their volunteers and was a wonderful way to spend an afternoon together enjoying canapés, refreshments and live music in the company of our Patron and Governor of Western Australia and the Minister for Volunteering. 

The Garden Party is supported by Department of Communities and includes a very special presentation of WA Volunteer Service awards for recipients that have volunteered with one organisation for 25 or 50 or more years.

If you are considering a Christmas celebration for your volunteers, we would love your support of this event.  Tickets can be purchased here or by calling our office on 9482 4333 and may be bought for individuals or for a whole table of ten.

We look forward to celebrating with you on this very special day .

Certificate of Recognition for Volunteers

As in previous years, the Department of Communities welcomes you to access a certificate of recognition for your volunteers that is signed by the Minister for Volunteering. The certificate template allows you to enter your volunteer’s name and print off the certificate for presentation. The initiative is offered to assist organisations in recognising their volunteers on International Volunteer Day on 5 December. Organisations are invited to email volunteering@communities.wa.gov.au to request the template and password then print it off for presentation to volunteers or post/email to volunteers.

National Volunteer Guide

Not-for-profit Law has produced a National Volunteer Guide for use by Volunteer Involving Organisations across Australia. It provides an overview of the key legal obligations organisations owe volunteers and provides practical examples, template documents and tips to assist in their understanding. Volunteering Australia was pleased to consult on the Guide, ensuring that it aligns with our National Standards for Volunteer Involvement.

To access the National Volunteer Guide click here.

VIRA

We have just updated VIRA with several often-requested features to make data entry easier. We hope you find the new capabilities useful, and feel free to send us any feedback.

Bulk Hours Entry Option
You can now easily enter larger volumes of hours data, with the new bulk entry form in the administration section! Simply enter the details of the volunteering, select all the volunteers that participated, and you’re done - no need to go to each volunteer individually.

VIRA Sign-in sheet Available
If you have someone in a reception role, the new VIRA sign-in sheet is just what you need. You can log each volunteer as they enter, and sign them out when they leave. This will give you not only a record of the hours they volunteered, but also a list of all volunteers currently on-site.

Pending Volunteer Filter Added
You can now filter pending volunteers in VIRA by name or email address - this will allow you to quickly find the application you want if you’re looking for someone specific!

Manual Updated
The VIRA manual has been updated with details about the new features, and a better description of the Volunteer Profile.

Learn more about how VIRA can help you by attending a demo.

Have you been thinking of signing up to VIRA?
If you’d like to find out more, follow VIRA on Facebook or email vira@vol.org.au

Supporting Communities Forum Update

The Supporting Communities Forum (the Forum) was established in late 2017 to support the implementation of the State Government’s Supporting Communities policy which is focused on improving the quality of services provided to vulnerable Western Australians. The Forum meets quarterly and held its third meeting on 17 September 2018. Meeting notes and communiques from each of the Forum’s 2018 meetings are available on the Forum’s webpage here.

At the request of the Minister for Community Services the Forum recently provided input into the revised Delivering Community Services in Partnership (DCSP) Policy. The revised DCSP Policy came into effect from 1 October 2018 and encourages planning and designing services in partnership with service providers and consumers of services, among other changes. Further information on the revised DCSP Policy is available from the Department of Finance website here.

Training & Events

All of the training and events we offer are listed here and we encourage you to register as the classes do book up quickly.

Are you new to Volunteering WA?
27 November | 9:30am - 11:30am
We welcome all our new members to join this training session.
Find out about the services available to you and get a head start with VIKTOR, the national online volunteer recruitment and referral platform. This session is for members and organisations in the process of joining Volunteering WA.

Book here

Digital Awareness Workshop

14 December | 10:00am - 12:00pm
Does your organisation know what to do about phishing emails? How about protecting yourself and your family at home from online predators? The Woodside Digital Team have put together a special FREE workshop for Volunteering WA members to cover a variety of online topics including:
• General Online Safety Awareness
• Phishing
• How to protect yourself and your family at home
• How to best manage security risks for small businesses
• Patching
• Server configuration

Please be sure to pass this information on to the IT team in your organisation! The Woodside team is willing to answer your questions and therefore tailor the session to the needs of the attendees.

To book please contact corporate@volunteeringwa.org.au

Shout out Saturday

Do you need help finding volunteers to fill a position in your organisation? Our Saturday feature, only for members, advertises your position on our Facebook page which is followed by over 4,200 followers. Email karan@volunteeringwa.org.au to promote your volunteer vacancies.

Please ensure your volunteering role is on VIKTOR so that we can link the Facebook post straight through to the Volunteering WA website.

New Members

A warm welcome to new members:

• Best Friends Animal Rescue
• Ellis House Community Arts Centre
• Gynaecological Awareness Information Network 
• Starlight Children's Foundation
• Southern Cross Care
• Trillion Trees
• WA Parks Foundation

New Regional Affiliates

• Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation
• Ngarluma Yindjibarndi Foundation
• Voice of the Avon  
• York Society

We look forward to working with you.