Volunteering

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Celebrate our Volunteers with us

We recently celebrated National Volunteers Week as well as the second anniversary of the Burdekin Volunteer Program so, we saw this as a perfect time to celebrate our volunteers and all they do for our young people with an appreciation dinner. Of course we appreciate our volunteers every day of the week.

Just like our dinner last year, our volunteers received certificates of appreciation for their extraordinary contribution during the challenging times over the past two years as we navigated working with Covid-19. We acknowledged particularly the huge impact a trusted adult can have on the life of a young person, especially one who has experienced childhood trauma.

It really has been a time like no other and we thank each and every volunteer!

We have recently just completed another round of volunteer training and cannot wait to welcome new recruits into the team. We are currently in the process of “matching” some of our volunteer recruits with clients. We take this process seriously, looking at the skills, interests and availability of the volunteer and thinking through who might be the most suitable young person and whether they’re ready for a new adult in their lives. Many of our young people have lost trust in adults so it’s important that they are in a good place to be ready and willing to meet with a volunteer mentor. When the match works well, it is brilliant and over time, a very strong bond can develop. As one of our young clients said, “it’s so good that there’s someone who wants to meet with me who isn’t paid to meet with me.”

In the meantime, if you would like to know more about volunteering we have lots of information on our website, you might like to start here and then search volunteer. Please get in touch if you are interested and we will let you know once the dates for the next sessions have been confirmed – we love hearing from you. If you have any questions, please email: volunteer@burdekin.org.au.

Our Burdekin Volunteer Program turns two!

We are holding Volunteer Training Dates in May

It is two years since we started a Volunteer Program back in May 2020 during National Volunteers Week. Since then, we have gone on to recruit wonderful volunteers doing amazing things for us and our young people. Or maybe the volunteers recruited us because it is definitely a win-win relationship.

Read more about what our current volunteers are doing here.

To celebrate our 2nd birthday we are launching our next volunteer recruitment drive with training scheduled for:

Thursday 19th May from 6.30pm to 8.30pm and one further day the following week to be confirmed depending on time availability of volunteers, also held via zoom – both training dates are compulsory to become a Burdekin Volunteer.

If you love young people and have between 2 and 4 hours to donate per week this might be for you! Make a difference to the lives of young people and your community. Above all you will also meet new people, gain new skills and enhance your own wellbeing.

Volunteering your time, skills, and resources is one of the most powerful ways to make a difference, to help others, and as it turns out, to enhance your wellbeing.

National Volunteer Week (NVW) is Australia’s largest annual celebration of volunteering and will be held on 16 – 22 May 2022. This year’s theme is Better Together. Volunteering brings people together; it builds communities and creates a better society for everyone. Will you join us? You won’t regret it!

To register for this course, please complete an Expression of Interest form or email: volunteer@burdekin.org.au.

More on volunteering with Burdekin:

Volunteer with Burdekin, Skilled Volunteers and Current Vacancies.

Vital Volunteers

What do volunteers do

Volunteers are everyday people who give a little bit of their time to a cause that resonates with their personal values and they are worth their weight in gold!

Our Volunteers add so much to the lives of the young people here at Burdekin.

It doesn’t suit everybody to become a foster carer and volunteering might be a great alternative. Volunteers provide weekly connections to the lives of young people, many of whom have not experienced relationships with trusted adults in their lives.

Some of our valiant volunteers:

  • Volunteer Audrey visits one of our houses weekly and assists the carer by cooking the evening meal for the 3 young teens who live there. The kids often join in and the carer appreciates the adult company. We call Audrey a “house angel”.
  • Volunteers Tom and Issy are assisting two of our young people to get their drivers licence by helping them gain the 120 supervised Learner hours.
  • Volunteer Anna is helping a 17 year old who is studying to become a hairdresser.
  • Hugh is helping a young man to improve his English.
  • Sarah is providing valuable help in the office, doing an important task that takes time.
  • Georgie plays sport after school with one young girl.
  • Monique takes a young person out each Sunday and they discuss art and music.

We recognise the huge value a volunteer who is choosing to give up their time to be with a young person contributes. One young person said recently: “You mean she’s not paid to be with me? That’s cool.”

Whilst many individuals volunteer to give something back to their community, most volunteers find that they experience a number of benefits too. Volunteering has been proven to have benefits to both physical and mental health – it’s a win win!

I’m ready to volunteer – what’s next?

Read more about what it is like to become a volunteer with Burdekin and fill out an expression of interest. You might also like to read about our volunteer team and what sort of help we are looking for. We will also be running our next volunteer recruitment drive including training dates in May this year – watch this space.

We have also teamed up with Mentoring Men who provide free long-term one-to-one life mentoring programs for men Australia wide. Our partnership aims to engage male volunteers into our Volunteer Program for our young people.

Mentoring Men Volunteer Initiative

Volunteer with us

We are delighted to have entered into a partnership with Mentoring Men to engage male volunteers into our Volunteer Program for our young people. Mentoring Men is a fantastic local charity providing free long-term, one-on-one life mentoring programs Australia wide.

Volunteering

As many of you already know we are big on collaborations and community partnerships here at Burdekin – we believe that together we can make the world a better place – more so than going it alone.

Volunteers play a huge role in contributing to healthier and more resilient communities. Being a volunteer also has positive gains for the person who volunteers, not just the mentee. Being part of a community, making a difference, having fun as well as learning news skills, gaining confidence and meeting new people are all part of the overall experience.

Common goal

With a common goal of making a positive difference to people in our community our partnership with Mentoring Men makes perfect sense. By working together, by sharing our knowledge, skills and resources, we can share the responsibility for achieving this.

Gender disparity in volunteering

With this collaboration, specifically men will volunteer with us in roles like driving instructor, general maintenance, mentoring, program co-ordination, house angel and tutoring. We know that women tend to volunteer more of their time in Australia so we really welcome this wonderful opportunity.

Possible reasons why men don’t volunteer as much as women:

  • They assume it’s just for women?
  • They feel like they don’t have the skillset?
  • They feel like they don’t have time?
  • They feel like their good intentions might be misinterpreted?

Role Models

The truth is that society is crying out for male role models. Steve Biddulph, Parent Educator, Author and retired Psychologist says: “our schools are filled with kids – especially boys who are ‘under- fathered’ and at considerable risk of going off the rails as a result.”

If you would like to know more about our Volunteer Program please visit our pages: Volunteer and Skilled Volunteers and if you would like to know more about our Mentoring Men Volunteer Engagement Initiative, please contact us.

We take this opportunity to formally invite any men in our community to get in touch with us if you would like to volunteer!

Mentoring Men welcome all enquiries for men interested in becoming a Mentor, if you are interested in becoming a volunteer Mentor with Mentoring Men please take a look at what it’s all about.

Volunteers Week 2021

National Volunteers Week 2021

It was a busy Volunteers Week 2021 for Burdekin!

Our Inner West Volunteer Co-ordinator Renee, our Northern Beaches Volunteer Co-ordinator Kerri and Kim , our overall Volunteer Coordinator participated in a thank you activity – National Volunteers Week (NVW) Cultural & Bush Tucker Walk 2021.

The theme of this years NVW was Recognise, Reconnect, Reimagine and as a way of saying thank you, STARS invited volunteers to either a morning or afternoon guided walk on the Cooks River. Darug Dharawal man and respected horticulturalist Terry Lennis guided the walk. Lunch was provided by Café Green House at Gough Whitlam Park.

Our Volunteers Celebrated National Volunteers Week
Volunteer Co-ordinators Renee and Kim celebrating National Volunteers Week 2021

Burdekin celebrated NVW for the first time, having launched our Volunteer Program during NVW 2020 this is really a special time to us. Our volunteer team celebrated and bonded over a meal and, of course, received certificates of appreciation.

Burdekin’s Mrs Jill Wrathall presenting volunteer Anna with a certificate of appreciation.

If you would like to know more about our Volunteer Program you can take a look at our dedicated pages:

Volunteer With Burdekin

Burdekin Skilled Volunteers

Our Current Volunteer Vacancies

We acknowledge the Aboriginal people of the Cadigal and Gayamaygal Clans. We acknowledge the Country on which we live, work, and gather as being Aboriginal land.

We acknowledge the lands, waterways and skies that are connected to Aboriginal people. We honour them and pay our deepest respects to their Elders past, present and emerging.

We respect their rightful place within our communities, and we value their ancient cultural knowledge and practices.

Aboriginal Flag
Torres Straight Island Flag

We deeply respect that this will always be Aboriginal land and we will honour and follow the first peoples’ values in caring for the Country and for preserving their culture.

We deeply value that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are the oldest living culture in the world and we will continue to work with their peoples and communities to ensure their cultures endure and remain strong.