WHERE would we be without volunteers?

WHERE would we be without volunteers?

Anyone who knows me knows that I have nothing but respect and admiration for those wonderful people in our community who give tirelessly to help others.

These people are our volunteers and believe me, as a city we would be lost without them.

I attend numerous community events throughout our city and further a-field and the majority of these events are the result of the hard work of a committed band of volunteers.

Now, these volunteers don’t necessarily have to give countless hours of their own time - they simply give what time they can. And they do so because they see a need and want to help out.

At some stage each of us would have benefited from the efforts and commitment of our volunteers.

You see them in all areas of life, from volunteers who operate animal rescue centres, our community radio station, Meals on Wheels and throughout various areas of our hospitals. Many are invisible to most of us, but there wouldn’t be community centres or programs without them.

As a parent I know only too well of the commitment volunteers put into ensuring children have sporting clubs, fields and courts to play on. As well as the volunteers who help out in the school canteen and classroom. These efforts don’t go unnoticed.

Each volunteer leaves an indelible mark on the lives of those they help.

As a nation, we benefit to the tune of approximately 623 million hours to the community, worth approximately $14.6 billion per year to the economy.

While those figures are staggering, volunteering delivers a number of other key social benefits too including

• creating social cohesion

• contributing to community capacity and resilience and supporting services that meet the needs of Australian communities

• providing a critical contribution to emergency services and disaster recovery.

I have no doubt that many services we as a city, state and nation take for granted would cease without these volunteers.

It would be interesting for all of us to take a moment and think about just how our life has benefited from the selfless efforts of volunteers.

Whether it is in a large way or small, we have all been helped at some stage by a volunteer. I know we are all time poor and life is constantly pulling us in a multitude of different directions but next time the call goes out for volunteers in your community please give it a thought and see if you can lend a hand.

Know that the small piece of your time makes a big difference to the lives you help. - Mayor Pam Parker