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Volunteering Tasmania staff taking up Point to Pinnacle challenge
Assist us raise funds for a good causeEight staff from Volunteering Tasmania are participating in this year’s Point to Pinnacle challenge on Sunday 21st November 2010. A 21.4km walk or run from Wrest Point Casino to the Summit of Mt Wellington (1270M ASL). Staff from Hobart, Launceston and Burnie are participating with the aim to raise awareness for the ‘Climb to Recovery’ cause.
Climb to Recovery is the name of the fundraising campaign and walk in which Lucy Henry is going to attempt to raise a target of $50,000 for the Burns Unit by walking the Point to Pinnacle. Lucy describes walking more than 21 km uphill as an excellent metaphor for the hard work to recover physically and emotionally from severe burns. As part of supporting this cause to raise money for the Burns Unit at the Royal Hobart Hospital Volunteering Tasmania is encouraging you to support the cause by donating.
Donations can be made in person at any branch of the Bendigo Bank. Cheques made out to 'Climb to Recovery' may also be posted to the Bendigo Bank Hobart Branch, GPO Box 201, Hobart TAS 7001
All monetary donations go straight to the Burns Unit - the administration costs of Climb to Recovery have been covered by a sponsor. Money raised by this campaign will be used by the Burns Unit to purchase specialised medical equipment to improve patient care that they otherwise would have to do without. It does not go into general revenue.
You can also support Lucy by walking with her on the day, head to the website for more information click here.
2010 AVAA VOLUNTEER MANAGER AWARD OF EXCELLENCE
Nominations now openThe Australasian Association of Volunteer Administrators (AVAA) Volunteer Manager Award of Excellence is a tremendous opportunity to recognise our hardworking volunteer managers. No matter whether they have been on the front line putting their lives at risk or working in the community for sporting groups, the arts, local government, hospitals, environmental or community welfare organisations and the like, these people are ensuring the true value of volunteer contributions are felt. Download the nomination form here. Entries due 10 September.
UK Volunteer Rights Inquiry Interim Report
After a series of high profile incidents in the UK in which things relating to volunteers appeared to go badly wrong - resulting in walk-outs, legal proceedings, and very public disputes - Volunteering England decided to engage in a Volunteer Rights Inquiry to begin to understand the nature and scope of the problems experienced by volunteers and identify suitable remedies. A committee was established to conduct this inquiry with members drawn from campaigners for volunteer rights and volunteer welfare, volunteer managers, large volunteer involving organisations, infrastructure organisations and existing regulators. Over the past six months the Inquiry has collected stories about volunteers' experiences and has now released an interim report on its findings, including some proposed solutions. VT sees this as a very important piece of work with a great deal of relevance to the Australian and Tasmanian volunteer sector. Many of the issues raised and stories presented could just as easily be ones that we come across here. We look forward to the Inquiry's final report later in the year. Download the interim report here.National Volunteering Strategy under discussion
Staff and Board from Volunteering Tasmania were delighted to welcome Senator Ursula Stephens Federal Parliamentary Secretary for Social Inclusion and the Voluntary Sector to our organisation on Monday 5 July. The Senator reinforced the Federal Government’s commitment to volunteerism and understanding of the seminal role that volunteering plays in building strong and inclusive communities. One of the items under discussion was the National Volunteering Strategy. The Senator encourages all organisations to have their say by completing the on line survey here.Message from the CEO
A ‘new look VT’ is on its way...From the 1st July our brand will change to reflect some of the changes that we have been undergoing as an organisation over the last year.Just as the volunteering environment is changing, so are we. Our new brand is fresher and more positive and will help to drive us into the future. At VT we have increased our operational capacity and grown the capability we have to build stronger and more effective networks in the community. Last year we launched Volunteer Connect, the Volunteer Management Review and our Positioning Paper for the State of Volunteering Report. The new brand plus these 3 flagships reflect our core business which is to:
- Support and facilitate pathways to volunteering for all members of the community;
- Provide consultancy, resources and information to volunteer involving organisations and programs;
- Help to shape the future of volunteering through leadership, research and promotion.
Thank you to the 2,500 or so people who participated in our State of Volunteering survey!
Surveys are now closed: thank you to all for taking part. We received responses from over 1600 volunteers, nearly 600 non-volunteers and almost 350 volunteer-involving organisations. We value your input tremendously and look forward to sharing the results of the survey with you later in the year. Congratulations also to the winners of survey prizes, kindly donated by Dick Smith and the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra.National Volunteer Week 2010 - a success!
This year there were hundreds of volunteer information and 'thank you' events around the state. National Volunteer Week was launched in Tasmania with a breakfast in Launceston on Monday 10 May. Professor David Adams, Social Inclusion Commissioner for Tasmania, spoke on this year's theme 'Now More Than Ever', reminding us that the overall rate of Tasmanian participation in volunteering is one of the highest in the nation, and highlighting several continuing trends including changing patterns in volunteering, increased professionalism and regulation of volunteering and of course a hot topic - ageing demographics of volunteers. To read his full speech click here. Thank you once again to everybody who got involved in this year's National Volunteer Week.
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