2023 Student Volunteer of the Year (Undergraduate): Tom Gibbs

An Honours student at the John Curtin School of Medical Research, Tom Gibbs’ commitment to volunteering with St John Ambulance ACT, North Canberra Hospital, and Canberra NightCrew, and is recognised as 2023 ANU Student Volunteer of the Year (Undergraduate) for his dedication to ensuring community safety and health.

 

Starting as a practical outlet for the scientific knowledge that ANU has provided him throughout his undergraduate studies, Tom soon found himself absorbed in the experience of helping others, teaching new volunteers and learning from experienced mentors himself to better his community. Since then, he has enjoyed dedicating his time to keeping the ACT community safe and healthy, providing first aid at big and small events around Australia, volunteering to provide first aid during major flooding in Victoria, and lending a caring and empathetic ear to patients. Particularly, in a post-covid system, where healthcare is under strain, his work as a volunteer allows him to fill that missing link in a stretched system – providing patients with the time and emotional support to understand their conditions and treatments and ask any questions. Throughout all his time volunteering, Tom’s main goal centres around improving patient comfort at all times.

 

“The biggest thing I’ve learnt is - no matter how small of a contribution you feel you’re making on a shift-to-shift basis with the volunteering that you’re doing, even those small contributions can amass into a really, really big positive change in a person’s life.”