It’s National Volunteer Week, and one Sunshine Coast community event is celebrating the vital role volunteers have played in its success.
Brightwater parkrun, which takes place every Saturday at 7am, launched in October 2014. During that time more than 700 different people have volunteered, carrying out a combined total of 5000 different volunteer roles.
Their volunteer contribution has supported more than 8000 different people to complete nearly 60,000 runs on the 5km course on over 400 occasions.
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National Volunteer Week is Australia’s largest annual celebration of volunteering, taking place from May 15-21.
This year’s theme is The Change Makers, recognising the contribution of volunteers around the country and encouraging others to consider volunteering.
Brightwater parkrun volunteer event director Gary Holland said everyone in the community was invited to give parkrun volunteering a try.
“parkrun is all about having fun in a relaxed and welcoming environment,” he said.
“All the volunteer roles are super-simple and there are a wide variety of opportunities, from welcoming first-timers to marshalling on the course to handing out finish tokens as people finish the 5km.
“We even have volunteers during the week, for example who coordinate our volunteer roster and post on our social media channels. Our volunteer roster is never full and there is a role to suit everyone.”
Brightwater is one of 470 parkruns across Australia, with more than 143,000 different people volunteering at the free weekly events since the country’s first parkrun in 2011.
A recent national survey of almost 38,000 Australian parkrunners revealed that people who volunteer experience significant health and wellbeing benefits.
Ninety-nine per cent reported that they volunteer to feel a sense of purpose, while 93 per cent said it makes them feel part of their community.
What’s more, 545 people who have completed Brightwater parkrun did fewer than 30 minutes of moderate physical activity weekly when they first signed up with parkrun. This means local volunteers are increasingly supporting people to take the first steps in their physical activity journey, which has major health and economic impacts for the community.
parkrun events are free and open to anyone. Registration is free at www.parkrun.com.au/register.
If you are interested in volunteering you can email the event at brightwater@parkrun.com, message them through the Brightwater parkrun Facebook page, or simply come along on a Saturday morning.
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