Celebration for volunteers | The West Australian

TROY DOUGLASBusselton Dunsborough Times On the eve of National Volunteer Week, Busselton Dunsborough Volunteer Centre is urging residents to take up the increasingly varied and flexible

options for pledging support to others in the community. NVW is the largest celebration of volunteering in Australia, providing a platform to recognise the more than 6.1 million volunteers

who donate their time and energy in a number of roles and encourage participation as a way to meet new people or build skills. “The importance of volunteers cannot be underestimated,”

Volunteer Centre co-ordinator Carl Holroyd said. “Some of our most vital community services – elderly care and transport, rural firefighting services and environmental awareness programs –

rely heavily on a volunteer workforce.” To coincide with this year’s theme of Everyone Counts, promotional displays will be setup in Busselton Library on Monday morning and Thursday

afternoon, while nonprofit group representatives from a range of community sectors will be on hand at the centre’s Prince Street office for a morning tea on Tuesday from 10am and afternoon

tea on Wednesday from 2pm. Two new banners funded through Volunteering WA and information highlighting the Volunteer Centre’s online services as a “one-stop shop” for people to find

opportunities will also feature at shopping centres throughout the week. “I think the profile of the area is changing with fly-in, fly-out full employment and less retirees, and in some

instances this does put pressure on organisations,” Mr Holroyd said. “Its really about connecting people with agencies … organisations can lodge volunteer vacancies with us and members of

the public can access these many and diverse positions online. Volunteering can be short bursts of time, specialised projects or long term.” For more information, visit

www.bdvolunteers.org.au. GET THE LATEST NEWS FROM THEWEST.COM.AU IN YOUR INBOX. Sign up for our emails