With about six million people across the country putting up their hands to volunteer, organisations across the South East are celebrating the people who support their daily operations as part of National Volunteer Week this week. Gazette journalist MATTHEW SIMS spoke to two of the area’s unsung heroes.
The bright colours of different flowers and the smell of international herbs and plants can be found in the Pakenham Community Garden.
However, like anything strong and beautiful, the garden would not be as diverse and brimming with life without the support of its volunteers.
National Volunteer Week is running from Monday 20 May to Sunday 26 May, with Volunteering Australia encouraging all people who have thought about volunteering to take the leap and know that there is a volunteer role for everyone.
Garden co-founder Mary Nugent has volunteered at the garden since its inception about 14 years ago, loving the work and the people she meets and works with on the project.
“To me, it’s actually quite meditative,“ she said.
“You can just stand there, watering the plants and watch the world go by.“
Ms Nugent said as the eldest child of a large family, she quickly learnt how to take control and manage a situation.
“I learnt how to do a roster when I was in primary school,“ she said.
Studying nursing, Ms Nugent specialised in aged care, working in aged care providers in Euroa, Kooweerup and Pakenham.
Her volunteering began when she volunteered at her children’s school across a number of roles.
“As parents, you do all sorts of weird and wonderful things,“ she said.
“I found that I could have some impact and it gave me great insight into the dynamics that I wasn’t aware of.
“I quite enjoyed it.“
Ms Nugent moved to Gippsland about 25 years ago after living in the North East for about 15 years and co-founded the Pakenham Community Garden alongside Meryl Waterhouse as a side project of the Pakenham Garden Club.
“We embraced it,“ she said.
“It has just kept growing since then.“
Ms Nugent said the garden would be nothing without its volunteer base.
“We’re always looking for more members,“ she said.
“We make it social as well.
“We always finish with a coffee and tea and a meal.“
Ms Nugent said the value of a community was in its people.
“I felt it was quite rewarding,“ she said.
“People need to be socially included in our community.
“If we don’t do that, it’s not a very nice place to live.“
Ms Nugent said the garden and Living and Learning also acted as a hub of cultural diversity.
“People want to be engaged and to understand their community,“ she said.
“People taking part in courses at Living and Learning come out in their recess and walk around the garden and you can just talk to them about the garden.
“You can have that connection.“
Ms Nugent has also volunteered with the Pakenham Op Shop.
“It’s supported by the community for the community,“ she said.
Ms Nugent said she remembered someone coming up to her saying she was the first friendly face they remembered seeing in Pakenham.
“That’s really significant,“ she said.
Ms Nugent said she had supported Living and Learning in a number of ways in the past, including donating clothing to a family who had lost their belongings in a fire or donating batches of frozen soup.
“I think it’s important to help organisations that help other organisations,“ she said.
“That’s the community supporting the community.
“I try and make a positive impact where I can.“
Another local volunteer supporting a key organisation is line dancing tutor Anna Barrie, who has been teaching classes at Outlook in Pakenham and the Beaconsfield Neighbourhood Centre for six years.
“My first contact with Outlook was getting free help with a computer project,“ she said.
“Whilst there, I overheard staff talking about needing volunteers for classes.
“They were very nice and helpful, so as a line dance instructor, I thought I would repay their help by volunteering to teach a class.“
Mrs Barrie said the classes were popular from day one.
“The first day, they had 50-odd people turn up, so I had to split it into two classes,“ she said.
“The line dancers enjoy the lovely hall at Outlook, the staff are very helpful and when Covid hit, it was very hard for everyone,“ she said.
“However, at the first opportunity, we were all back on the floor with everyone very happy to get out of the house for some fun exercise.
“The smile on their faces are worth a million dollars.“
Mrs Barrie said she became interested in line dancing when she was fixing her laptop at a community house in Hervey Bay in Queensland, when a volunteer teacher encouraged her to join in on the class.
“It made me admire her and want to volunteer to do it at Outlook,“ she said.
“I’ll probably be doing it until I can’t manage it anymore.“
“I have had a great deal of pleasure from seeing people progress and gain confidence in the line dance at both the Outlook and Beaconsfield community centres over the last six years and even though now I’m in my eighties, I hope to continue enjoying this exercise with my line dance friends.“
Mrs Barrie said volunteering was a worthwhile endeavour for people of all ages.
“Providing many safe, fun and affordable activities for local people very much depends on a large number of volunteers doing many different tasks,“ she said.
“If anyone has some spare time, your local community centres would love to increase their volunteer family.“
At Living and Learning, their volunteers have increased to 44 people who contributed 235 hours of work every week to their programs and activities.
Chief executive Miriam Cadwallader said volunteers were the lifeblood of their organisation.
“Our volunteers come from a range of diverse backgrounds and life experiences and each week, they share their time, skills and expertise.
“Their involvement enables us to continue to deliver quality services to benefit to community members and enhances our capacity to meet our aims and goals.
“We aim to provide a good volunteer experience and to support them to achieve their aspirations, because we could not do it without them.“
Ms Cadwallader said they were governed by a volunteer team of industry experts within the community.
“Our English Language classes are supported by former teachers and literacy specialists volunteering their time each week,“ she said.
“The success of our stunning community garden is a collective effort from our garden co-ordinator and his team of volunteers to maintain these shared spaces and the seedling hot house.
“Volunteers also assist in a number of our other programs including the multicultural playgroup and the African Homework Club.“
For more information about how to start volunteering, visit www.volunteeringaustralia.org
