Community Transport Volunteers Get A Chocolate Cheer

As National Volunteers Week is celebrated, Kelly Rolfe took the time to take her volunteer team out for pizza and recognised their efforts with a certificate of appreciation and a block of Cadbury Chocolate.

This year’s theme of Every Moment Matters proves that no matter how big or small one’s commitment is, it is valued by the wider community.

“I would really appreciate the opportunity to publicly thank not only the awesome team of volunteers we have here at Community Transport but those that support the many community organisations, schools and sporting bodies in the Hilltops,” Kelly said.

“At a time when attracting more volunteers is extremely difficult, I feel it is very important to take the opportunity to recognise the work of our volunteers whenever possible.”

“When you think of an organisation like ours, to whom volunteers contributed in excess of 10,000 hours last financial year and times this by the many other organisations in the area who have volunteers, you are looking at a huge contribution of time and energy and a massive saving to the Government.

“It is estimated that nearly six million people volunteer their time, knowledge and expertise through various organisations annually across Australia.

“Services like our would not be able to provide the quantity of service to the community without the volunteers, as we would nver be able to receive the amount of funding needed to pay drivers to travel to regional centres sometimes spending eight or nine hours away or the many local trips that we provide.

“Last year our team provided 21,000 trips to 3,500 clients and travelled just under 600,000 kms.

Kelly shared a little about Community Transport’s volunteers.

How many volunteers do you have at the moment?

Thirty nine.

What is the age range of volunteers?

Fortyfive plus. We welcome younger people, but don’t seem to get them.

What do volunteers do for your organisation?

Volunteer drivers for both car and buses, driving both short and long distances. Long distance is travelling to Wagga, Orange, Canberra, Goulburn, etc, and short distance is closer towns like Cowra, Temora, Harden, Yass and around Hilltops LGA. Attendants for bus trips to accompany and assist clients and drivers and vehicle cleaning.

What sort of a difference do the volunteers make to the lives of others

Assisting people with transport to medical appointments, treatments such as lifesaving dialysis and cancer treatment, specialist appointments and surgery makes a huge difference in people’s lives and takes a lot of stress and worry about “how they will get there” away from them so they can concentrate on getting better. Allowing people to access shopping and social activities enhances their wellbeing and health and assists them to take an active part in their communities.

What are some of the benefits that the volunteers get out of volunteering?

Volunteering is a rewarding experience - by knowing that you have made someone’s life a bit easier, meeting new people, learning new skills, receiving training in such things as First Aid and Manual Handling, reimbursement of out of pocket expenses and feeling like you are part of a team and you are needed.

• Topics:

• Volunteering