Campaign to encourage volunteering

Wimmera Southern Mallee Local Learning and Employment Network project officer Vanessa O’loughlin believes there is no coincidence that Education Week overlapped with National Volunteer Week this year.

“We’ve heard it before – ‘it takes a village to raise a child’. Community, individual and corporate volunteering in schools has a direct impact on youth engagement, learning outcomes and student wellbeing,” she said.

Wimmera Southern Mallee LLEN is launching a new volunteer recruitment campaign this week to inspire the community to think about how it can help young people in school.

‘What can you do?’ will showcase regional individuals, businesses and community groups already working with schools to provide learning opportunities

and experiences. An intended outcome is to stimulate people into thinking about how they can invest their own skills, abilities and time into schools.

“We often look at all the barriers, we want the focus to be on what people can do,” Mrs O’loughlin said.

Executive officer Tim Shaw described Wimmera Southern Mallee LLEN as an organisation which worked towards improving education outcomes, particularly for disadvantaged young people.

“We have great schools in the Wimmera, but schools can’t do it alone,” he said.

“Our volunteers find it very rewarding to support our schools and our kids.

“Their contribution has real impact and makes a big difference.”

Wimmera Southern Mallee LLEN has several programs and projects in which the community can get involved.

“The LLEN hosts MATES Mentoring, Reading Buddies in-school reading initiative, student-work placements and community-action network meetings,” Mrs O’loughlin said.

“The feedback from schools indicates a continuous need for volunteer support. If a person has a special skill or talent to share, and-or the time, we are talking about an endless book of possibilities.

“We are also encouraging businesses to look at ways they can boost involvement, particularly in the transition-to-work space through industry tours, work placements and schoolbased apprenticeships and traineeships.

Horsham College principal Rob Pyers is encouraging the campaign.

“Students undertaking Vocational Education and Training require work placement to complement and enhance their learning outcomes,” he said.

“We rely on local business to voluntarily host students.

“It works for both parties, with businesses being able to train and invest in their future workforce.

“We’d encourage any business to host a student and create a culture of youth participation.”

Horsham Primary School principal Chris Walter is another supporter of volunteering in schools.

“Our school has a number of key initiatives involving volunteers,” he said.

“MATES Mentoring in particular has run successfully here for many years and we could always do with more volunteers.

“We have students who would benefit by participating in the MATES Program now if we had the volunteers.

“Mentoring a young person is an incredibly rewarding experience and we are always looking for people to volunteer some time to provide positive experiences.”

Invitation

Wimmera Southern Mallee LLEN is holding a Reading Buddies morning tea and MATES Mentoring lunch from 10 am on Monday for people seeking volunteer opportunities and to thank current volunteers.

Individuals and businesses can call Wimmera Southern Mallee LLEN on 5381 0122 for further information on the events, or to investigate ‘What can you do?’ to support school programs throughout the region.