Member Stories

Activate Mental Health

I am Rahul Smith, Founder of Activate Mental Health, which is a cause where people take active action to improve their well-being through running and participating in fun social events. There's many aspects of running a group, which ranges from facilitating events, networking with key stakeholders in the community, guiding the leadership team to help increase the organisation's impact and providing support to people who are interested to volunteer in the field of mental health and well-being. The group started as a small initiative, but as we continue our path to become a registered charity, I have been able to mobilise a small leadership team that are able to take on tasks of the group, including volunteer management and marketing. 

We have a wide range of volunteers who assist the group. The primary volunteering role at Active Mental Health is to become an event host, where volunteers run their own fun social activities such as walks, board games at cafes, ten pin bowling and 8 ball pool, for the group benefits. These activities occurs on weeknights and weekends, where there are often minimal mainstream mental health services available at times where people are at their most vulnerable states. 

Rahul Smith, comments on how being a member of VWA has helped the organisation. 

"Being a member of Volunteering WA helps boost the legitimacy of our cause. It's great to see the peak body of volunteering in WA gives us the ability to use their services".

"We have been able to advertise and recruit both new event hosts and skilled volunteers who have improved aspects of the group through the use of VIRA that links to the key volunteer advertising services. Recently, we had a highly skilled volunteer upgrade our website".

"We are also appreciative of the training and development opportunities offered by Volunteering WA. Our volunteer manager has been able to network with other volunteer managers and receive training and development documents that give us a better understanding of things such as the volunteer cycle. We are implementing this knowledge into our operations".

"Volunteering WA is an integral organisation within Perth's not-for-profit sector. Volunteers are the backbone of supporting the wider community with services that help many worthy causes. It is brilliant to see how Volunteering WA assists organisations like ours to help our ability to support volunteers, which leads to more positive outcomes in the community".

EdConnect Australia

EdConnect Australia trains and supports volunteers to work in local schools, providing a safety net for young people who might otherwise struggle to realise their potential - in school and life. They connect volunteers who want to make a difference, with young people in school who need extra help and guidance, be it mentoring or learning support. EdConnect Australia aims to equip young people with the life skills they need to succeed. Volunteers do this by building positive and supportive relationships with each student.

EdConnect Australia offers two types of volunteering opportunities; Mentoring and Learning Support Volunteering. The description of each role is broken down on their website.

CEO of EdConnect Australia Gerri Clay, comments on how being a member of VWA has helped the organisation.

“Our partnership with VWA is a crucial. We thrive on having an active and involved partnership and love to exchange information and share knowledge in order to continue to provide intergenerational volunteering opportunities to assist both primary and secondary students who might otherwise struggle.”

EdConnect Australia values the guidance and knowledge that VWA are able to provide as the peak volunteering body in WA, not only to our volunteers but also to our staff and broader organisation, in order for us to thrive.

Awards WA

Awards WA provides The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award in Western Australia. The Award is a global framework for non-formal education, which challenges young people to dream big, celebrate their achievements and make a difference in their world. Through developing transferable skills, increasing their fitness levels, cultivating a sense of adventure and volunteering in their community, the Award helps young people to find their purpose, passion and place in the world. It operates in more than 130 countries and territories, helping to inspire millions of young people. We've got nearly 60 years of experience and our ambition is to make the Award accessible to every 14-24 year old in Western Australia, regardless of ability, experience or culture.

In WA, the Award is operated in 100+ organisations across the State, with over 4,000 young people engaged on a daily basis with their Award journey, with 2,000 Participants starting in 20/21. Participants are supported by almost 4,000 volunteers and devote more than 23,000 hours annually to volunteering in their community.

We provide the program framework, resources, support and celebration to all involved in the Award in WA with our small team of 3.2FTE.

"As you can imagine, with such a small yet dynamic team, we are so grateful for the support and benefits we receive as a member of Volunteering WA. In the past, we have had documents reviewed to ensure compliance and governance, workplace planning review, as well as CRM Analysis. The value add as a member has been far above our annual fee!

“Volunteering WA and their amazing staff under the leadership of Tina Williams, provide services and support to ensure their members feel valued, heard and educated”.

Katie Brown, Chief Executive Officer, Awards WA

National Trust of Western Australia

The National Trust of Western Australia works to raise knowledge, awareness, understanding and commitment to Western Australia’s natural and cultural heritage. In additional to maintaining a Heritage Register to identify and assess places and objects of cultural heritage significance, the National Trust manages 68 properties across Western Australia as well as 177 covenanted properties protecting bushland.

We have approximately 400 volunteers who contribute to the smooth running of the National Trust in a number of ways. Many of our volunteers help open our properties, greet visitors and introduce them to the amazing stories associated with our significant heritage places in the Perth metro area; Pinjarra, Margaret River and Albany. Volunteers are also involved in grounds maintenance. In addition, we have volunteers who help us with tasks from our West Perth office, ranging from library, administration, data entry, assistance at events.

Volunteering WA has proved a valuable source of information about the volunteering sector. We have used much material to ensure we meet the National Standards of Volunteering. I have learnt about opportunities to recognise our volunteers and other interesting events through Volunteering WA.

“Volunteering WA is where I found like-minded souls who support me to do my job successfully.”

Volunteer and Place Officer, National Trust of Western Australia

I have used VIKTOR to advertise for volunteers and have found the system very simple and very successful.

On a personal level I have found the networking opportunities to be of most use. The training sessions have also been beneficial as they are targeted specifically to volunteer managers.

Share your member story

Email membership@volunteeringwa.org.au