Vision Australia Radio (VAR) is once again incredibly proud and honoured to celebrate National Volunteer Week, held from 18 – 24 May 2020.
This year VAR have more than 200 award recipients celebrating various years of service, ranging from one year all the way up to 45!
Volunteers support Vision Australia in many ways though roles such as administration support, recreation and client support, audio description and of course radio, including readers, presenters, technical operators, roster secretaries and administration.
Caroline Milne, an Adelaide-based volunteer with VAR, is celebrating three decades of involvement with radio.
“It has been my absolute joy to have spent 30 years – first with 5RPH and now Vision Australia Radio in Adelaide,” Caroline said.
“The people I’ve met and friends I’ve made are very special to me and I hope to continue for more years to come,” she said.
Vision Australia Radio coordinator of volunteers Marilyn Bednar paid testament to the ongoing support and dedication of our volunteers, and talked about the memorable experiences she’s had working with them every day.
“A highlight of my role is meeting new volunteers as well as maintaining relationships with long-standing volunteers, it’s a real pleasure watching them develop in their roles,” Marilyn said.
“So many of them help out not only in the roles they initially signed up for, but have also supported us with additional projects as they arise over the years and we thank them for that,” she said.
Unfortunately due to the current pandemic, we are sadly unable to hold the May volunteer celebrations face-to-face. We do hope, however, to be able to celebrate with all volunteers in person at the end of the year, and provide pins for years of service and certificates of appreciation.
Marilyn, fellow volunteer coordinator Anastasia Devaroh-Caputo and Vision Australia CEO Ron Hooton have put together their own short messages thanking and congratulating our volunteers for their years of service. You can hear from Marilyn and Anastasia here, or from Ron here.
Vision Australia more broadly recognises the work of our volunteers across Australia that support and drive important functions throughout the organisation. In this interview highlight, Peter Greco speaks to Dr Theresa Ruig, Volunteer Partnerships Director at Vision Australia, to share why it’s important for us to highlight and celebrate the work our volunteers do during National Volunteer Week.
We would like to extend a big thank you to all of our volunteers for their ongoing support, dedication and contribution to Vision Australia. Their volunteering has made a huge impact in the lives of so many people in the blindness and low vision community.
