ANU Volunteers giving to the University in their own way
In a world where mobile phones come to the dinner table and ‘Skype dates’ have replaced family gatherings, a group of motivated and socially aware ANU students generously give their time to connect with their community and make a real difference.
In 2010, ANU students (now alumni), Al Gough and Tom Mercer, decided to create a student society that would encourage and facilitate students to carry out volunteer work in the Canberra community. ANU Volunteers (ANU V), is now one of the largest student societies on campus, with over 500 members. The group is run by a 12 student strong Executive Committee, who volunteer up to 20 hours a week of their own time to run the society. Their effort pays off tenfold, with their active members completing more than 400 volunteer hours in 2011.
Katrina Marson, current ANU V President and founding committee member, explains “ANU V provides ANU students, staff and more recently alumni with a positive and supportive environment through which they can volunteer in the community. We try to make it as easy as possible for people to get involved. Most of our members have been interested in volunteering but don’t know how to get started and don’t want to go it alone.”
Jess Saunders, former ANU V President and founding committee member continues “students are an excellent resource for community organisations but are often underutilised due to their need for flexible hours. ANU V aims to bridge the gap between students and community organisations so that they can work together to achieve great things.”
Their work covers a diverse range of projects including; Calvary’s patient companion program, The Red Cross’s Good Start Breakfast Club which provides nutritious and healthy breakfasts to school-aged children and the ANU Counselling Centre’s Get up and Go Program which pairs a volunteer with a person experiencing low mood or depression who then walk together once a week.
Marson says, “ironically committee work doesn’t leave me much time to do volunteering, so I am involved with the Red Cross TeleChat service. Once a week I call a lovely elderly lady to chat for about 10 minutes. For me it is an absolute pleasure to keep in contact with her and for her the service provides some regular company.”
The group is the perfect society for a campus where a lot of the students are from out of town – combining good work with getting to know people. ANU V member and On-Campus coordinator Julia Baker said, “I joined ANU V to get to know people. I am a big believer in volunteering and the opportunity it gives you to see beyond your own social group.”
The group, which is going from strength to strength, finished 2011 on a high note receiving recognition from the Australian Government for its contribution to the Canberra community. The award, for New Volunteering Group, was presented by the Hon Andrew Leigh MP, along with Senator the Hon Kate Lundy and the Hon Gai Brodtmann MP at Volunteering ACT’s event for International Volunteering Day at Albert Hall in Canberra. The recognition was awarded as part of the National Volunteer Awards program. Marson said, “we were very humbled by the recognition and attribute the success of the organisation to its dedicated members, ANU students and staff.”
For ANU V the future holds a lot of exciting projects including: hosting an inaugural ANU Volunteering Week in May 2012; instigating a new member software program that will facilitate and track member activity; opening its doors to ANU alumni; and working with ANU to promote a culture of philanthropy and volunteering amongst its students and staff.
