PROJECTS

The Regional Collective: Next Generation

This project will support volunteer-involving organisations across the Esperance region to build the knowledge, confidence, and internal processes needed to engage young people aged 12–18 in meaningful and age-appropriate volunteer roles.

Working closely with four or more local organisations, the project will provide one-on-one support to co-design and implement youth-friendly volunteering opportunities. Young people will be engaged early in the project to provide input into the design of volunteer roles, supervision approaches, and communication strategies, ensuring the work remains youth-informed and locally relevant. Rather than creating another generic reading-heavy toolkit, Esperance Volunteer Resource Centre's project will focus on capturing and sharing real-world insights from these pilot activities. A series of videos will be created showcasing the experiences of participating organisations and young volunteers.

Out of the Box Volunteering

The ‘Out of the Box Volunteering’ Project (OBV) at the Esperance Volunteer Resource Centre is a collaborative initiative between four Volunteer Centres including:

Peel Volunteer Resource Centre Inc
Volunteer Southwest Inc
Albany & Regional Volunteer Service Inc
Esperance Volunteer Resource Centre

Volunteer involvement is an essential part of most organisations and yet it can be difficult to recruit and retain volunteers. This project combines the expertise and resources of these four organisations to revolutionise the way we understand and engage in volunteering. OBV has been funded by the Australian Government Department of Social Services. This project aims to educate, equip and support regional non-profits to expand their current volunteering opportunities to increase connection with potential volunteers they may not currently be engaging with. Specific target groups were set by the Department of Social Services, these included:

Young people aged 12-18 years
People with disability and/or mental health issues
Vulnerable women
People who are unemployed
First Nations people
Newly arrived migrants
People seeking a tree/sea change
Transient workers

Through this project, EVRC is exploring new ways to encourage volunteer engagement by identifying current challenges and potential solutions, with a goal to increase the chances of success for Volunteer Involving Organisations (VIO’s) with finding new volunteers and keeping them engaged.

Click on the image above to learn more!

Out of the Box is an EVRC program designed to help volunteer-involving organisations reach people who may not have traditionally engaged in volunteering — like young people, First Nations people, migrants, transient workers, those with disabilities or mental health challenges, and vulnerable women.

This program supports you to create inclusive roles, provide meaningful support, and build a welcoming environment where every volunteer feels valued.

The team at the Esperance Volunteer Resource Centre are here to help non-profit organisations, community groups, volunteers, and anyone who would like to get involved with their community - so get in touch!

The ‘National Standards for Volunteer Involvement’ are found here.

The ‘National Strategy for Volunteering 2023-2033’ is found here.

Thank you to the team at Esperance Aged Care Facility for being involved in the creation of this video!

Film and thumbnail by @byrosiehenderson

This project was supported through Volunteering WA's Volunteer Management Activity, funded by the Australian Government Department of Social Services.

Good Will Globetrotters

The 'Goodwill Globetrotters' Project (GG) includes working intensively with Volunteer-Involving Organisations in Esperance and surrounding areas to design and implement flexible, short-term volunteer opportunities suitable for the transient tourist population and time-poor locals looking for community engagement.

The project introduced a new approach to volunteering in Esperance by providing strategies and guidance to local VIO's to assist them with developing short-term and one-off commitment volunteering opportunities that will appeal to travellers and time-poor locals.

Project activities include:

Reshaping how VIO's structure their volunteer programs to be more flexible, with short-term and one-off opportunities;
Tackling barriers present in existing on-boarding processes and seeking to minimise the effort from both VIO's and volunteers when it comes to short term roles; and
Mitigating obstacles and tracking successes.

Anticipated project outcomes involved:

A greater variety of people taking on volunteer roles, increasing community strength, resilience, and inclusiveness.
Increased percentage of youth volunteers, especially with a disability or from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.
Stronger relationship between EVRC, VIO's, volunteers, and the wider Esperance community.

Click on the image above to learn more!

Discover how the Goodwill Globe Trotters program is transforming volunteering in our region!

By focusing on micro-volunteering, short-term roles, and corporate volunteering, this EVRC project helps local organisations create flexible, meaningful opportunities that suit busy lifestyles.

The ‘National Standards for Volunteer Involvement’ are found here.

The ‘National Strategy for Volunteering 2023-2033’ is found here.

Thank you to the team at Bay of Isles Community Outreach Inc for being involved in the creation of this video!

Film and thumbnail by @byrosiehenderson

This project was supported through Volunteering WA's Volunteer Management Activity, funded by the Australian Government Department of Social Services.