Sunshine Coast volunteers are being hailed as “the backbone of our community” during a week of recognition.
This comes as Volunteering Queensland launches the first State of Volunteering in Queensland 2021 Report.
The report found that three million people volunteered 900 million hours in 2020, a year that was challenging for all.
The report revealed volunteers contributed almost $84 billion in value to the Queensland community.
In our region, it’s estimated about 64,000 people lend a hand to others.
“They’re providing benevolent services that support vulnerable and needy people on the Coast,” Volunteering Sunshine Coast CEO Mathew Walker said.
“They are people with big hearts who make a choice to volunteer.”
Mr Walker said they contributed about 640,000 hours of service, valued at about $26million.
“Most people want to volunteer because they really want to help,” he said.
“But there are some personal benefits too. It could be social, or mental.”
He said volunteers deserved praise. “People are quite modest, when it comes to volunteering, but I don’t think they should be. You should be proud you are doing so much good in the community.”
Volunteering Sunshine Coast has been operating since 2003 and is involved with more than 110 local organisations, including the likes of Bloomhill Cancer, Suncare Community Services, Be, Wishlist and Maroochy Neighbourhood Centre.
Mr Walker said there had been challenges for volunteers, particularly in care sectors, during 2020-2021. That was largely due to the impact of COVID-19.
“A lot of hospitals haven’t turned to their volunteers yet,” he said.
“They’re only just starting to come back. The volunteers who would normally support paid staff … that was virtually non-existent through COVID.
“They’re only just starting to get back.”
Mr Walker also said many volunteers now required a flu shot, COVID vaccination, blue card, yellow card and in some cases a police check.
“There are many roadblocks to volunteering,” he said, before also suggesting the pandemic had prompted many people to change their ways.
“When COVID arrived, some people didn’t want to volunteer in care because they were scared.”
“Others realised they didn’t want to volunteer and decided they wanted to get out and enjoy life.”
He expected the demand for volunteers would only increase, particularly among health services, in a rapidly-growing region.
Sunshine Coast Council lauded the commitment of local volunteers.
They said volunteers in the region are bucking national trends and staying active despite national numbers on the decline, according to research by Volunteering Australia.
There were more than 2500 registered volunteers across council-managed volunteering programs, after facilities re-opened from the COVID-shutdown.
“Volunteers who willingly give their time, efforts and experience for nothing in return are the backbone of our community,” Sunshine Coast Council Community Portfolio Councillor David Law said.
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“People such as Karen Anderson, one of our incredible TurtleCare group leaders who was nominated for the Queensland Volunteering Awards, make an enormous contribution through leadership to future generations and passion for conservation.”
He said volunteer numbers were about what they were before COVID-19.
“At the beginning of the pandemic last year, it was a sad but necessary requirement to pause many volunteer programs.”
“While it’s been a slow return for some groups, we are happy to see volunteer numbers returning to their pre-pandemic status.”
Local resident Janny McDonald is just one of the volunteers who freely gives her time to the community, via Be’s companionship program.
She has been a volunteer for the past 22 years, including the past four with Be.
“When I retired, I felt I like there was only so much I could do around the house and I decided I could offer more by volunteering,” she said.
“Volunteering has changed my life and I can see our clients feel the same.
“Clients are always very grateful, sometimes I am the only person they have seen for a week or more so when we catch up I can tell that their smiling faces say it all.”
One of her clients, Gwen, is 101 years old and thoroughly enjoys her regular visits from Janny.
Gwen lives alone and each time they get together there are always plenty of smiles and laughs.
“Gwen is an amazing lady who loves to talk, we will never run out of subjects. It’s nice to know I’m making a difference and I can see that each time I visit with Gwen.”
A report, launched by Volunteering Queensland, found that three million people volunteered 900 million hours in 2020.
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“We have always believed that the majority of Queenslanders volunteer in some way. Now we have the evidence to confirm that … and it’s certainly something we should all be proud of and celebrate,” Volunteering Queensland CEO Mara Basanovic said.
But she said many organisations saw a decrease in volunteer numbers.
“Whilst we now have evidence of the high participation rate in both informal and formal volunteering, there are still many challenges facing the volunteering sector,” she said.
A special event, to thank the region’s volunteers and present Vawards, will be held at the University of the Sunshine Coast on May 29.
The ceremony will include guest presenter, Amanda Gore, one of Australia’s leading motivational speakers and trainers along with the announcement of the 10 category winners, and the 2021 Volunteer of the Year.
Mr Walker said there was strong interest in the awards with 70 nominations received from all over the Coast.
