Giving attracts heartfelt thanks
Baptcare Home-Start volunteers Gabrielle Musgrove and Heather Gordon. Picture: EMMA D'AGOSTINO
Baptcare volunteers celebrating National Volunteer Week with a lunch at the Old Boundary Hotel on Tuesday. Picture: EMMA D'AGOSTINO
CARING: Angela Schofield, Barbara Hutchinson, Margaret Van Dillen, Geoff Wraight and Steve Smith of Baptcare's pastoral visiting program. Picture: EMMA D'AGOSTINO
Baptcare Home-Start volunteer Jenny Mitchell. Picture: EMMA D'AGOSTINO
Bendigo Health volunteers Rosalie Vanstan, Wayne Darby, Marg McMahon and Frances Suidgeest. Picture: NONI HYETT
Baptcare Home-Start volunteers Wendy Cowling and Glenda Dawson, who both received five year service certificates. Picture: EMMA D'AGOSTINO
Bendigo Health volunteers Julie Rafferty and Joyce Walters. Picture: NONI HYETT
Jane Worthington of Baptcare with Home-Start volunteer Graeme Witney. Picture: EMMA D'AGOSTINO
Jane Worthington of Baptcare with Home-Start volunteer Kietha Jamieson. Picture: EMMA D'AGOSTINO
Bendigo Health volunteers Peter Ferrier and Peter Meredith. Picture: NONI HYETT
Bendigo Health volunteers Sharon Reed and Colleen Charry. Picture: NONI HYETT
Jane Worthington of Baptcare presents a certificate and gift to Home-Start volunteer Cathie Shearer. Picture: EMMA D'AGOSTINO
Jane Worthington of Baptcare presents a certificate and gift to Home-Start volunteer Pamela Stevenson. Picture: EMMA D'AGOSTINO
Bendigo Health volunteers recognised for 10 years of service. Picture: EMMA D'AGOSTINO
Bendigo Health volunteers Jenny Watson and Barb Cornell. Picture: NONI HYETT
Jane Worthington of Baptcare presents a certificate and gift to Home-Start volunteer Carolyn Bartlett. Picture: EMMA D'AGOSTINO
Bendigo Health volunteers celebrating five years of service. Picture: EMMA D'AGOSTINO
Jane Worthington of Baptcare presenting a certificate and gift to Home-Start volunteer Win King-Smith. Picture: EMMA D'AGOSTINO
Give happy, live happy is the motto underpinning this week’s National Volunteer Week celebrations.
The smiles on the faces of the volunteers at events in Bendigo on Tuesday radiated that message.
Gabrielle Musgrove and Heather Gordon, pictured, were among 20 guests at a luncheon at the Old Boundary Hotel, which acknowledged and celebrated the contributions of Baptcare volunteers.
Both women are involved in the Home-Start program, which provides support and guidance to families in need.
Home-Start coordinator Jane Worthington said volunteers helped about 40 Bendigo families, including about 110 children.
Kietha Jamieson has been part of the program since it started, eight years ago, and said she had seen firsthand its importance.
“It is absolutely crucial because a lot of the families we work with don’t have anyone else,” she said.
She said being a Home-Start volunteer had also enriched her life.
Baptcare pastoral visiting program volunteer Barbara Hutchinson had much the same to say about her role, which involves spending time with elderly people. “It has been wonderful – I would recommend it to anyone,” she said.
She and the woman she visits have bonded over a mutual love of their faith, gardening, and their pets.
“We’ve just become the finest of friends and it’s lovely,” Mrs Hutchinson said.
Shortly afterwards, Bendigo Health celebrated the achievements of 51 of its most loyal volunteers, who have collectively contributed 385 years of service.
People applauded as Bendigo Health Board chair Bob Cameron presented pins and certificates for five, 10 and 15 years of service.
Bendigo Health has around 325 volunteers working in a range of roles.
“Volunteers make an enormous contribution to Bendigo Health,” Mr Cameron said.
“We thank them for their hard work and dedication and for giving their time.”
RECOGNISED: Long-serving Bendigo Health emergency department volunteers Desma Stamp, Audrey Bickford, Lillian Tipping, Heather Brooke and Gwenda Pratt. Pictures: EMMA D'AGOSTINO
Friendly faces brightening up trying times
Gwenda Pratt and Audrey Bickford have been volunteering in the Bendigo Health emergency department for more than 10 years, initially as members of the Red Cross.
People might recognise them as some of the friendly faces that help soothe anxious patients, or support worried friends and families through trying times.
The role of Bendigo Health volunteers in the emergency department does not involve medical intervention, but is a form of healing for all involved.
Mrs Pratt became a volunteer partially to thank Bendigo Health for caring for a family member.
She had only intended to stay for 12 months, but is still there after almost 12 years.
“It’s just about caring,” she said.
“I always get something back from it.”