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20th Anniversary EditionNewsletter April 2008 |
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Hi e-news member, Welcome to the April edition of our newsletter. This is a special edition to celebrate our 20th birthday!
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20 years of Volunteering WAVWA turns 20 this month so we thought we'd tell you a little bit about our history. To read a more detailed account and see more pictures please go to our website. Following a national IAVE Conference in 1985, two statewide seminars were held in 1986 and 1987 to explore volunteering issues of declining numbers, image/lack of profile, volunteering costs and insurance. A working party was formed to lobby the then Labor Government. With initial funding of $25,000 the State Volunteer Centre was opened in Oxford Street Leederville on 11 April 1988. The highlights 1988 – State Volunteer Centre opens 1988 – 1992 focused on the building of strong volunteer foundations including development of priorities, practices, policies, procedures, profile and moving to new premises in Stirling Street Perth. 1993 – 1996 saw the building of the volunteering dream with the creation of programs, the first VRC in Peel, a national conference in Perth, accredited Certificate IV Training, positive perspectives and a shared future vision 1997 – 2000 Forging strong community relationships, finding and strengthening our place in the national and state arenas 2001 The International Year of Volunteers was a turning point for volunteering in Western Australia with increased support, resources and profile 
2002 – 2005 witnessed a sector and organisational restructure to develop statewide support services 2006 – 2008 & beyond sees a ringing in the changes to achieve positive outcomes for the community. Volunteering WA enhances its peak body role of supporting volunteering across Western Australia and building stronger communities through volunteering. 20 great years of contribution through partnership |
2008 National Volunteer WeekThis year's NVW breakfast will be held on Monday 12 May at the Sheraton Hotel from 7am to 9am. We hope to see as many of you and your volunteers there as possible. Invites are being sent out to our member organisations now so keep an eye out; we promise this is not something to be missed! Those of you who have attended in past years will know what a great event this is and how it really does make a wonderful start to kick off National Volunteer Week. There will be lots of good food, company and entertainment to put a smile on everyone’s face. We expect places to fill up fast so please don’t delay in booking. You can book online at www.volunteeringwa.org.au |
Funding for HACC agenciesHACC agencies in rural Australia may be eligible for grants of up to $10,000 from the Caring for Ageing in Rural Australia program, for volunteer training or other volunteer support services, from the Foundation for Rural & Regional Renewal. Applications for current funding will be received up to 12 August 2008. The Foundation for Rural & Regional Renewal has a number of funding programs that rural and regional communities may wish to monitor. Guidelines and application forms can be obtained from www.frrr.org.au |
Visiting Volunteers at ShowThe prominent event on the March calendar for the Visiting Volunteers Program was the opportunity to meet with potential travellers and volunteers by having a Volunteering WA stand at the 2008 Perth Caravan and Camping Show. Many of the Visiting Volunteers on our database originated from the ‘Grey Nomads’ and those others interested in camping and caravanning in regional WA. 
Grateful thanks are extended to all those willing helpers who generously volunteered their time to assist in manning our stand at the Show. Both VWA and the Visiting Volunteers Program benefited enormously from the assistance of the volunteers and this enabled us to talk with almost 1,000 potential volunteers during the five days of the Show. Just over 100 written expressions of interest were recorded for the Visiting Volunteers Program and, as a result, we have already placed our first couple who are leaving this week to volunteer in the Discovery Centre in Denham. If you wish to know more about the Program or the projects available, Margaret or Ivan would be pleased to hear from you and may be contacted on 9482 4333 or visiting@volunteeringwa.org.au. Photo - Some of our willing helpers (L to R): Andrew Crook, Wendy Jobling, Colin Jobling, and Debbie Crook |
give20 goes live!Volunteering WA is proud to announce that give20, the web site helping students find community service positions, is now live! We have over 700 positions listed in over 160 postcodes, including country areas. Log on to www.give20.org.au to have a look. Thank you to all organisations who are participating and as always, we are looking for more community service opportunities for students. If your organisation would like to list positions on the site, simply let us know which of the positions currently listed with Volunteering WA would be suitable for high school students. Alternatively you can list new positions by filling out a Volunteering WA position form. For more information contact us on 9482 4333 or click here to email. |
Olympic volunteers at record highMore than 1.2 million people have applied to be volunteers at the upcoming Olympic Games in Beijing. This is a record high and the applications don’t close until 31 March! Along with the 100,000 game volunteers needed, an additional 400,000 city volunteers have now been added to help meet the high demand. City volunteers will help tourists during their visit to Beijing. Looking to the future at another sporting event Derek Casey, Director of the successful Bid for the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, called for volunteering experience in the 2014 Commonwealth Games to be recognised with a qualification in a keynote speech delivered recently. More details here. |
Keynote speakers announced for National ConferenceThe 12th National Conference on Volunteering is taking place from September 3 to 5 in the Gold Coast, Queensland. Volunteering Australia has recently announced two keynote speakers for the conference - Bruno Ayres, Chief Networking Officer for the V2V Network and Tim Costello, CEO of World Vision. Read more about them here. |
Congratulations to top sports volunteer
VWA would like to pass on acknowledgement and congratulations to Greg McLennan who recently won the Sports Volunteer of the Year Award at the Australian Sports Awards. Greg, from East Fremantle, won the award for his contributions at state, national and international level to Royal Life Saving. It’s great to see someone from WA achieve this award. |
Senator the Hon Ursula Stephens visit to VWA
Senator the Hon Ursula Stephens, Parliamentary Secretary for Social Inclusion and the Voluntary Sector, the first ministerial representation of the nonprofit sector in Australia visited VWA last month. During her stay Senator Stephens took great interest in gaining an understanding of the status of volunteering in Western Australia and the unique successes and challenges of the volunteering sector in this state. She also enjoyed visiting to the Art Gallery of WA where 100 young scouts from regional Western Australia together with some 30 volunteers participated in a sculpture workshop as part of the Scouting Centenary celebrations. Senator Stephens has made a number of significant and most interesting speeches on volunteering and social inclusion. Links to these speeches can be found on the VWA and on the Volunteering Australia websites. |
Free policy forum: Insurance IssuesJoin a panel of insurance, legislative, local government and volunteer management experts to format an action plan to address issues of insurance and volunteers, including: insurance & legislation; policies & procedures; advocacy in the sector; associations incorporation act and more. A forum summary and recommendations will be forwarded to Volunteering Australia for further action. This is your opportunity to contribute to this very important sector response to the volunteer insurance issue. Free to VWA members, bookings essential. More info here. Contact Maurene on 9482 4333 or maurene@volunteeringwa.org.au to book. |
Free volunteer management training – Martin J Cowling - full
To learn more about Martin please take a look at the PFTS website – www.pfts.com.au |
VWA’s support of PROSHVWA has just established an exciting partnership with the UWA Guild, which is important for our youth volunteering program. As part of this we would like to take the time to say a big thank you to all the students who volunteer throughout the year and also to those involved in PROSH. What is PROSH? "PROSH started as a small paper called the SRUSS-SRUSS, way back in 1931. Since then it has grown to become one of the (b)oldest and (ig)noblest traditions of UWA students. Every March a team of dedicated writers get together to produce the PROSH paper, a satirical slant on current affairs locally, globally and internationally (no one is spared). PROSH is short for ‘procession’ – that crazy day in April when UWA students take to the streets in droves selling copies of the paper to unsuspecting victims. 130,000 copies of the paper are produced, with all proceeds raised going to the chosen beneficiaries." – (source UWA Guild) PROSH is on this Wednesday April 9, and VWA supports the enormous and extraordinary contribution of this event, which involves hundreds of student volunteers both on the day and for months before, raising some $100,000 each year for charities in WA. Since it's inception in 1931 PROSH has raised millions of dollars and is the largest single day charity collection in Australia. Keep an eye out for students on a street near you! |
Welcome to new members:
We look forward to working with you… |
April's hot resource tip!University of Kansas – Community Tool Box… Their mission: Promoting community health and development by connecting people, ideas and resources. The Community Tool Box is the world's largest resource for free information on essential skills for building healthy communities. It offers over 7,000 pages of practical guidance in creating change and improvement. Practical step-by-step guidance in specific community-building skills is available in over 300 sections. This is one of the most complete resources available to community groups throughout the world. Visit it here. |
Thank you to all those who enquired about the training on April 11, we look forward to seeing you on the day. All the places have now been filled for both sessions. This message has been sent because you are registered with Volunteering WA. If you wish to be removed from this mailing list, you could unsubscribe or you can email info@volunteeringwa.org.au or phone 9482 4333.
The information and materials presented in this newsletter and at the web site are distributed by Volunteering Western Australia as an information source only. While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy and completeness of the information, no guarantee is given nor responsibility taken by Volunteering Western Australia for errors or omissions.
