April 2018 - April 2019 - Volunteering Victoria · April 2019 marks 12 months since I commenced part-time as Volunteer Coordinator at Reynard Street Neighbourhood House (RSNH). With

Volunteer Coordinator Hannah Evans

Volunteering Report

April 2018 - April 2019

REYNARD STREET NEIGHBOURHOOD HOUSE VOLUNTEERING 2018 - 2019 H. EVANS

VolunteerCoordinator

April 2019 marks 12 months since I commenced part-time as VolunteerCoordinator at Reynard Street Neighbourhood House (RSNH). With thisreport I aim to highlight the value of our volunteers and provide someinsight into the scope of the Volunteer Coordinator role. Case studiesprovide qualitative markers of success and speak to the diversity, wealth ofknowledge, social capital and community strengthening that ourvolunteers bring to the house and to the Coburg community in general. Many of our volunteers find the experience rewarding and mutuallybeneficial as they up-skill, gain confidence, network, practice languageskills, combat social isolation and feel good about giving back to theircommunity. It often feels like a win/win situation for all involved! Still,there have been challenges to overcome and I’ve included some statisticsand details from our database to provide a snapshot of volunteering andvolunteer coordinating at RSNH.

Weekly VolunteeringThis year we've had regular volunteerattendance in/at:

Community lunchesCoffee cartGardening in the sensory and community gardensPlaygroupCircle of Security PlaygroupEnglish classesMakers and MendersAdministration supportEvents and marketingJobs Club


The Financial Value of Volunteers


Each week volunteers contribute 151.5hours of valuable work and supportwithin our regular programs.

As the house runs on a small corestaff, volunteer contribution ensuresthe viability of the house’s programs.Simply put, without volunteers, wewouldn’t be able to run our programssuccessfully within budget!

With programs running for 40 weeksper year, that equals an astounding 6060hours of volunteer labour.

Yearly, volunteers contribute $149 621.40 worth of labour to ourorganisation, just within our regularweekly programs

"Irregular" Volunteers

Over the course of the last year we’ve engaged with 143 volunteers in our regularprograms. Additionally, we have a huge array of tasks and activities that unpaidvolunteers undertake on an irregular basis. These contributions strengthen theimpact and effectiveness of the work done by paid house staff and teachers and buildon the effectiveness and visibility of the neighbourhood house in the broadercommunity. Following are some of the tasks that volunteers contribute to the house outside of ourregular hours and programs. It would be impossible to quantify the value of thesemany and varied actions, but I hope to give a sense of some of the tasks that are easilyoverlooked.

Volunteer Roles


Our Team Leaders take on amentoring role with new andinexperienced volunteers in

playgroup, gardening,community lunch and

Makers and Menders. Theseroles require a higher degree

of preparation, reliabilityand responsibility and are

invaluable in facilitating theongoing success of the

program.

Volunteer TeamLeaders

Our committee iscomprised of members ofthe local community who

contribute time andvaluable knowledge tomonthly meetings and

events.

Committee ofManagement Volunteers frequently

assist with washing up,mopping and vacuuming

after events; and setting upfurniture for events and

weekly lunches. Volunteersalso contribute in small

ongoing ways such asbringing in the mail, takingout bins and emptying the

kitchen compost. Thesesmall actions assist with the

smooth functioning of thehouse.

House Care

Paid staff contribute manyhours of unpaid work

throughout the year in avolunteer capacity. Tasks

include collecting andtransporting items for

fundraising barbeques,facilitating events such as

Open Day and CaringTogether concerts and

excursions; and leadingweekend and afternoonworkshops in gardening

and art.

RSNH Staff

Volunteer Roles


Throughout the year, thehouse engages volunteers

with specialist knowledge toassist with design, social

media and marketing.Promotional work thatvolunteers undertake

includes creating hard copyand digital materials for

events and regular programswhich are then distributed by

the house staff and othervolunteers.

Design andPromotions

Volunteers are frequentlypicking up and dropping offmaterials and resources for

the house. This includesgardening tools and materials,food ingredients, cooked food,

donated bread and sewingitems. Regular attendees of

the house also help withtransporting other volunteersand visitors, allowing them to

participate more fully inactivities.

Driving andTransportation

Volunteers distribute ourbrochure and other materials

via local letterbox drops.Sometimes these volunteersmeet at the house as a groupand set out on a route, others

collect the materials anddistribute them in their own

time. All of our letterboxdrops are done on foot and

800 households insurrounding streets are

reached using this method.

FlyerDistribution

Volunteers promote and sellraffle tickets, bake, donate

and sell cakes and otheredibles in their own time andin the lead up to events suchas Open Day. Fortnightly wehave generous amounts of

home cooked hot food suchas lasagne and soup donatedby dedicated volunteers. We

are grateful for frequentdonations of cupcakes,

gardening equipment andcraft materials.

Fundraisers

Upcoming RolesNew/returning roles identified for2019/20:

Building and Grounds Maintenance Community Lunch SupervisorVolunteer Coffee Cart Trainer/MentorDisability Support VolunteersSocial Craft Group FacilitatorCommunity Garden Marketing VolunteerVeggie Swap FacilitatorWeekend Garden Workshop Facilitator


Playgroup Christmas PartyReusable Shopping Bag Sewing WorkshopSchool Holiday Art ProgramWeekend Working Bees Baking for Coffee CartWinter Soup FestivalWeekend Vegetable Swaps

After School Art ProgramBunnings Community Day Info StallBunnings Sausage Sizzles x 3Caring Together Christmas ConcertHouse Christmas PartyIndoor Mural PaintingLogo Screen-Printing WorkshopNAIDOC Week Art Workshop (2018)NAIDOC Week Weaving Workshop (2019)Open Day 2018

Event Volunteering

Volunteers have contributed to the following events in the last 12 months:


Access and InclusionMany volunteers overcome health and personal challenges to be involved inour programs. Supportive relationships and social interaction are the mainreason some people become volunteers in the first place. Some disabilitiesare invisible. You may be surprised by the statistics below: In 2018/2019 we have:

who have a mentalillness or mentalhealth conditionincludingdepression, anxietyand PTSD.

34 Volunteers

who have a physicaldisability or healthcondition. Threevolunteers have lowvision or are legallyblind. Twovolunteers havehearing difficulty.

23 Volunteers

with AutismSpectrum Disorder

9 Volunteers

who have anintellectualdisability.

4 Volunteers

with a psychiatriccondition such asschizophrenia.

4 Volunteers

Access and InclusionO t h e r o b s t a c l e s o u r v o l u n t e e r s

m a n a g e i n c l u d e :

Limited access to transportationLimited access to education Financial difficultyAsylum seeker and refugee status Long term unemploymentSocial isolation Ongoing health problems such as acquired braininjury, chronic pain and cancerTime management issues due to health and livingsituationPressure from Disability/Employment ServiceProviders and Centrelink - full-time job searchrequirementsBeing a carer for a family memberSingle parent/child care responsibilitiesSocial anxiety, difficulty interacting with a diversegroupEnglish as an additional language

Access and InclusionRSNH does not receive any disability specific funding.Therefore we often rely on volunteers to assist staff inhelping community members with a disability toparticipate in our programs and activities. This assistance is extremely important and appreciated! We have many people accessing the house with complexand sometimes stressful physical and mental healthconditions. Other volunteers stepping up to assist withalleviating anxiety, welcoming people and sharingknowledge increases the supportive atmosphere of thehouse and complements the positive relationships thatpaid staff are able to foster.

Challenges in volunteerrecruitment/retention

We attract many volunteers who are actively looking for work or planning to study in the nearfuture and they leave within the first 3 months.

We have a large number of volunteers who would be able to engage more fully with dedicatedone-on-one support for their additional needs.

Our regular programs operate Monday to Friday 9am – 4pm and many volunteers apply hoping tocontribute outside these hours.

Retention

Inclusion and support funding

Neighbourhood House hours

Challenges in volunteermanagement

Multiple volunteers with complex mental and physical health conditions working as acohesive groupChallenging behaviors combined with varying ability to communicate/followinstructions in a group settingSome volunteers require near- constant supervision by other volunteers or paid staffSkilled/qualified volunteers secure employment quickly then leaveNo control over reliability of volunteers referred through external partnerorganisationsLack of commitment over a medium-term time frame (3 - 6 months) - time spenttraining and inducting volunteers who do not return/commitStriking a balance between inclusiveness and completing tasks to a specific time-frame/standard

Moreland City CouncilMelbourne PolytechnicOpenTableOstaraRed CrossStott's CollegeSt Antonine's CollegeSydney Road Community SchoolTEAMWesley Uniting

ACSO (now closed)AMESAsylum Seeker Welcome CentreBaptcareBoxhill TAFECentrelinkIkon InstituteJesuit Social ServicesMatchworksMax EmploymentMilparinka

Referral Agencies

We receive volunteer referrals from:

RecruitmentWe advertise through Volunteering Victoria, Seek,Gumtree, our own RSNH website and via onlinenoticeboards for RMIT, Deakin, Swinburne andMelbourne University.

Volunteers also become involved with the house through word of mouth,visiting our website, seeing our marketing materials in localorganisations or receiving our flyers in their letterbox. Some volunteersare invited by a friend or decide to volunteer after completing an ACFEclass or short course at the house. Parents who have attended playgroupwith their child will sometimes return to the house to volunteer inplaygroup. We have volunteers undertaking "mutual obligation" activitieswith Centrelink, high school students from St Antonine’s College andBachelor/Diploma of Community Services placement students.


Travel

FootscrayGlenroyGreensboroughGreenvaleHeidelbergNorthcoteParkvillePascoe Vale

Airport WestBrunswickCambellfeildCraigieburnEppingEssendonFawknerFlemington

PrestonReservoirRichmondRoxburgh ParkSouth BankSouth MelbourneSt AlbansThornbury

Our volunteers come from far and wide! While many live in Coburg, they also travelto the neighbourhood house from:

AfghanistanAustraliaBangladeshCanadaChileChinaColombiaEnglandEritreaEthiopia

Diversity

HawaiiIndiaIndonesiaIranIraqIrelandItalyJapanLebanon

MongoliaNepalNew ZealandThe PhillipinesRussiaSingaporeSpainSyriaTurkeyVietnam

We are proud of the diversity amongst our volunteers, many of whom were not born in Australiaand speak English as an additional language. Our volunteers were born in:

FrenchGermanGreekHindiIndonesianItalianJapaneseKurdishMandarin

NepaliPersianRomanianRussianSpanishTagalogTigrinyaTurkishVietnamese

AmharicArabicBengaliCantoneseCroationDutchEnglishEthiopianFarsi

Language

Languages spoken by our volunteers include:


Training and DevelopmentAt RSNH we offer in-house training to our volunteers in their area of interest. We alsoencourage our volunteers to attend Moreland Volunteer Training such as First Aid and CPR. TheVolunteer Coordinator mentors volunteers and team leaders who wish to transition to furthertraining, more responsibility, accredited training or paid employment. Some volunteers gainpaid employment within the house programs when available. In the last twelve months:

were trained inespresso coffeemaking, moneyhandling andcustomer service.

52 Volunteers

learned basichorticulture andgardening skills.

17 Volunteers

gained accreditedResponsibleService of Alcoholand Safe FoodHandlingcertificates.

12 Volunteers

were able topractice andimprove theirEnglish languageskills whilstvolunteering.

47 Volunteers

completed FirstAid and CPRtraining.

12 Volunteers


Training and DevelopmentDuring the last 12 months 84 Volunteer Inductions have been completed. Working towards asustainable/paperless way of documenting volunteer “paperwork” is a goal for the near future.

learned basic safehandling ofmanual tools.

8 Volunteers

gained cookingand baking skillsfor communitylunch preparation.

17 Volunteers

receivedmentoring onconfidence, socialskills, teamwork &communication.

23 Volunteers

have completedgovernancetraining.

3 Volunteers

successfullyapplied for andgained Workingwith ChildrenChecks.

98 Volunteers

Documents

April 2018 - April 2019 - Volunteering Victoria · April 2019 marks 12 months since I commenced part-time as Volunteer Coordinator at Reynard Street Neighbourhood House (RSNH). With