Community Link is celebrating its volunteers this National Volunteer Week.

The community support and connection centre currently has 65 volunteers helping it deliver its key programmes.

“On average our volunteers deliver 80 hours of time weekly, the equivalent of two full-time staff members,” Community Link acting manager Vicki McDermott said. 

“To put it simply, we couldn’t do it without them. They really are the backbone of our organisation.”

Volunteers are essential to the organisation’s foodbank, family support programme, community gardens, Meals on Wheels and Justice of the Peace services, and its board of trustees is also made up of volunteers.

“We also have volunteers step up for specific events,” Vicki said. “For example Wanasoup – the free soup sessions we are holding on Wednesdays throughout winter; or our events for seniors – the most recent being our Musical Bingo event.”

The Meals on Wheels volunteers are out driving around the community five days a week delivering 90 to 100 meals a week to elderly people in the community.

The foodbank volunteers have the most varied roles, Vicki said, ranging from unpacking deliveries to tidying and organising the food stores, making up food packages for recipients and, at the end of year, all aspects of delivering the Food Bank Christmas Shop.

Meanwhile, the family support programme is for local families with young children that “need some extra help”, Vicki said, and volunteers will visit their family once a week for eight weeks.

“What form this help takes is specific to each family, but typically the family support volunteers help with household chores, meal preparation and helping with the kids,” she said.

Community garden volunteers visit throughout the seasons to plant, weed and harvest; the Justice of the Peace services are offered twice each week; and “we also have an amazing IT person, who volunteers his time to go out into the community and assist older people with any tech related problems”, Vicki said.

She said the volunteers, who range from one-timers to seasonal help and year-round, say they get a lot out of it too.

“Overwhelmingly the feedback that we get back from our volunteers is that they feel more connected and part of their community and that it simply feels good to be able to help others out – it gives volunteers a sense of purpose,” Vicki said.

Anyone who is interested in volunteering with Community Link is encouraged to get in touch.

Community Link has recently changed its name from Community Networks/LINK.

PHOTOS: Community Link