{"id":34,"date":"2020-09-04T10:51:12","date_gmt":"2020-09-04T02:51:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/volunteeringwa.org.au.test\/?page_id=34"},"modified":"2020-10-16T11:27:10","modified_gmt":"2020-10-16T03:27:10","slug":"report-from-the-chair-and-ceo","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/volunteeringwa.org.au.test\/report-from-the-chair-and-ceo\/","title":{"rendered":"Report from the Chair and CEO"},"content":{"rendered":"
Western Australians have a strong history of getting involved to help others and the community in general. This commitment has never been more evident than over the past year with the devastating Australian bushfires and COVID-19 health pandemic. Such challenging situations often adversely impact the more vulnerable members of our community.<\/p>\n
As the peak body for volunteering in WA, we are extremely proud of how our community has responded during these difficult and uncertain times. Volunteering WA has continued to work with community, government, corporate and education organisations, to advance volunteering in order to achieve the greatest impact for our great State.<\/p>\n
Annually, the volunteering sector delivers a social, economic and cultural contribution of approximately $39 billion to Western Australia. This contribution has been crucial in enabling us to build strong and resilient communities to face both the known and unknown challenges that come before us.<\/p>\n
At Volunteering WA, we judge success on the success of our valued member organisations that now total over 725. With their partnership, we can tackle the community\u2019s greatest challenges and make a difference to so many people.<\/p>\n
I was honoured to accept the role as Chair of the Board because I am fully committed to Volunteering WA\u2019s core values of inclusivity, integrity and innovation. The work of our organisation and partners is essential to the recovery of the WA community in the face of COVID-19, and with the passion and commitment of so many Western Australians to volunteering, I am optimistic about the year ahead.<\/p>\n
This year has seen the biggest disruption to volunteering in Volunteering WA\u2019s 32-year history as a result of COVID-19. During these unprecedented times, it has been inspirational to see the generosity and kindness of the Western Australian community coming together and supporting people most in need.<\/p>\n
COVID-19 changed the volunteering sector overnight, with the majority of Volunteer Involving Organisations (VIOs) pausing their face-to-face programs. As VIOs adapted to this new environment, Volunteering WA continued to extend our assistance, resources and services to support the sector navigate through the challenges faced.<\/p>\n
In response to emergency needs in the community we recruited over 4,000 emergency volunteers to assist VIOs and Local Government Authorities in providing urgent assistance for vulnerable people most at risk from the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. This support was extended to deliver a number of essential services within our communities.<\/p>\n