Community members who volunteer at Bundaberg Regional Council venues and facilities have been honoured for their valuable service as part of National Volunteer Week.
A morning tea event, hosted by Mayor Helen Blackburn and attended by Councillors, provided an opportunity to highlight the important role of volunteers in the community.
Mayor Blackburn thanked the volunteers for playing a pivotal role in helping to enrich the community and the region.
“Volunteers are an extraordinary kind of person,” she said.
“They are always happy to help, giving freely of their time, skills and experience, while never asking for anything in return.
“Whether it’s helping people to access services at one of our local libraries, sharing the history of our region with locals and visitors through one of our tourism facilities or enhancing for one of our parks and natural areas – the contributions volunteers make have a tangible impact on the liveability of our community.”
As part of the event, longstanding volunteers received certificates acknowledging their service, including Gin Gin volunteer Charlie Garwood, who has volunteered at Gin Gin Community Hub for 15 years.
Charlie, who has also been a volunteer firefighter for 52 years, and volunteers with Wallaville State School, said his lifetime of community service gave him a reason to get up in the morning.
“Over the years, I was an ambulance officer, I was an electrician, a firefighter, so I picked up a lot of skills, a lot of knowledge over those years,” he said.
“Now I have a choice; I can either sit back, relax and put my feet up for the rest of my life… or I can impart that knowledge.
“All the skills and knowledge that we've acquired over the years, now we're passing on to the youngsters because we've got to replace ourselves somewhere along the line, and if the kids don’t get involved in volunteering, we’re going to lose volunteers.
“This country runs on volunteers.”
Charlie said he got a lot of fun out of volunteering, including his work with the Emergency Services Cadets and helping students at Wallaville State School with woodworking and other life skills.
“I get a lot of pride in seeing the youngsters develop,” he said.
“Once they get that uniform on and they get together with some of the other cadets, they just shine.”
Bundaberg Regional Council has more than 150 volunteers across a range of facilities including neighbourhood centres, the Hinkler Hall of Aviation, libraries and more.
To find out more about volunteering for Council click here
Congratulations you deserve it Sandra bob
I attended the morning tea for volunteers held at the Moncrieff Theatre this year as part of the Friends of the Library group. What a magnificent array of delicacies provided, gleaming silverware to delight the eye and the service from the staff was perfect. I want to say a very big thankyou to council for doing that for all of us. We did really feel appreciated and of course it’s our pleasure to serve our community volunteering.
It was a wonderful morning with most of the councillors there all very keen to know who did what and where and about experiences beings volunteer. It is amazing how many years a lot of people put in to the one group. Says a lot, I think, about the people who volunteer..simply great people!!