Thank You to
St Bart’s Volunteers
The Revd Julie Baker, Chaplaincy Manager
During May at St Bart’s, we take a moment to recognise and show our gratitude to our amazing team of volunteers. As a not-for-profit we rely heavily on volunteers to make the funding we receive stretch beyond meeting the needs of our consumers to creating a space where they can thrive. National Volunteer Week is scheduled for 19-25 May, and we will be getting on board to make sure our volunteers know how much we appreciate them.
In an organisation like St Bart’s where there are different services which support different groups of people, we need a diverse volunteering team to assist. Our aged care service in the James Watson Centre, runs a full program of events and activities including bingo, quizzes, musical guests and visits from a friendly dog! Many of these activities rely on volunteers to prepare and present them. Regular breakfasts and special occasion lunches at our on-site café would not be possible without the team of volunteers who prepare, cook and serve the food. Volunteers are wonderful companions for individuals looking for company and make terrific drivers to get our consumers to appointments. Even our corporate office benefits from volunteers who take on admin tasks to support our staff team.
Some of our volunteering opportunities are one-off events such as making over a playground in our family service or preparing and painting walls in our community housing. Such events are usually made possible thanks to the many corporate groups which support us with their time, donations, and talents as they seek to serve the community. We are also grateful to Volunteering WA which arranges for many of these groups to work with us. Large scale annual events such as the Christmas Hamper Appeal harnesses the generosity and volunteering power of individuals, parishes, corporate groups and community organisations to spread joy to those whose celebrations would otherwise be a little thin.
As well as the entertainment and practical assistance that volunteers provide, we are also indebted to our team of volunteer chaplains who work across a number of our sites to offer a listening ear, an unhurried, non-anxious presence, and, where appropriate, spiritual and religious support and services. Thank you, volunteers – you live out our strapline to be by the side of the people we support, and we couldn’t do it without you!
We have recently welcomed a new Volunteer Manager, Justin Kimberley, to our team.
So, if you feel inspired to volunteer this National Volunteer Week and are considering St Bart’s, feel free to contact us via our website at stbarts.org.au/get-involved/volunteer-with-st-barts/. We’d love to hear from you!