JOHN CURTIN WEEKEND 2009 - Unilife

From the
Coordinator
John Curtin Weekend is Curtin Volunteers!’
largest community project and again it has been a
pleasure to coordinate such an amazing project.
Through John Curtin Weekend you will have
discovered volunteering is a great way too meet
new people, challenge and develop your personal
skills and engage with our diverse communities. You
have all worked together on community projects to
achieve a common goal. I have received wonderful
feedback from the regional and metropolitan sites
who are very grateful for your contribution during
the JCW month.
The greatest pleasure that I have had has been
working directly alongside one hundred and twenty
five people to plan and implement this project. The
commitment and dedication from everyone has been
inspirational and I thank everyone for their time, skills
and friendship.
Maureen (Mo) Meredith
Coordinator of John Curtin Weekend
From the
President
So, where did you go for John Curtin
Weekend? It’s exciting to imagine the 480+
stories that will answer that question this year.
Pub-painting in Coorow? Fence-building in
Broomehill? Unicycling in Tambellup?
Being a frequent inhabitant of building 599
and the Curtin Volunteers! office has even more
perks than usual in October as the stories start
flowing in. It is truly a joy to be connected to a
project that provides so many with unique and
enjoyable weekends!
Still, this project is about much more than
weekend trips into the country. Established
in 1999 to recognise and honour John Curtin’s
values of vision, leadership and community
service, it has become a chance to connect
communities and individuals that might not
otherwise interact. It’s about teamwork, and
mutual sharing and learning.
On John Curtin Weekends we complete tasks
that are small enough that teams of enthusiastic,
skilled (or not-so-skilled) volunteers can
achieve in one weekend, but are still big
enough that they make a noticeable positive
difference for people in the town. It is my firm
belief that in most cases the benefits for the
volunteer are bigger still, though we might not
realise it until years down the track.
Organising John Curtin Weekend
– or weekends – is no small feat. Curtin
Volunteers! is incredibly lucky to have Maureen
‘Mo’ Meredith at the helm of a project which, under
her dedicated leadership over the past four years,
has flourished and grown from 20 towns to 38,
and 3 international sites. She works from the day
the previous John Curtin Weekend is over to see
everything come together for October.
Mo’s endless enthusiasm is contagious,
as demonstrated by the fantastic John Curtin
Weekend team that she quickly gathers up to
help maintain and form the crucial partnerships
with country towns. This group, consisting mainly
of students, should be congratulated for their
efforts, as should each of the 38 site leaders.
Without this leadership at every level, there is
no way so many people could participate in, and
benefit so much from, John Curtin Weekend.
So, I hope this yearbook provides ample
opportunity for you to reflect on your own
personal story that was John Curtin Weekend
2009, and to get a window on the many other
stories that make up this incredible project.
Congratulations and thanks,
Tash Moore
CV! President
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