Bulletin Spring 2018

VOLUNTEERING
DAWN BURKE, MSWA VOLUNTEER COORDINATOR
Where does the time go, I can’t believe I’m shouting out hello
to you all again for the 2018 Spring Edition of the Bulletin.
I’m not sure about you, but my feet hit the ground running at
the start of the year and I’m having trouble with the rest of
my body catching up. Luckily spring is on its way, and it will
be time to stop and smell the roses, which hopefully means
things might slow down a little.
So much happens over the months between Bulletins, it
is hard to remember it all. National Volunteers Week just
happened when I last wrote to you, and both events in Perth
and Bunbury went well. It was very special having our CEO
Marcus Stafford attend the volunteer luncheon in Bunbury
recently. This event is usually low key and a bit more casual
compared to our Perth event. The luncheon was held at
Backbeach Café and had a real vibe and lots of noise in the
background; such a beautiful venue which appears to be
extremely popular with the locals.
I thought I would share some statistical information regarding
National Volunteers Week all over WA. Did you know, in WA
alone, there were 235 celebrations held to recognise and
thank volunteers and 16,129 volunteers attended these
events. The breakdown of these celebrations looks like
this; Kimberley Events four, Pilbara six events, Gascoyne
two events, Midwest eight events, Goldfields nine events,
Wheatbelt 19 events, Peel 14 events, Southwest 23 events,
Great Southern seven events and Perth 131.
Let’s not forget those who couldn’t attend an event or live
in areas where an event wasn’t possible. We Western
Australians, should be proud of all those people who put
others before themselves and give back to the community.
We are especially fortunate at MSWA to have over 250
people volunteering with us in both our Member Services and
Events teams.
We had one of our annual Members camps at Moore River on
28 May, which went off with a bang as usual. Our numbers
are getting larger for this camp every year, which is great to
see. Lots of fun, activities, laughter, great food and games.
Again, I had the privilege to attend this camp as did three of
our MSWA volunteers. I would like to thank Rosalind, Mike
and Jacqui for coming along to help. The difference you make
is immeasurable and we appreciate the time you take out of
your week to attend, as it isn’t a day here and there, it’s for
the long haul – four days and three nights.
Jacqui came from Bunbury and had a long day travelling each
way. It is great having volunteers attending camp and if any
of you are ever interested in volunteering on camp or know
of anyone who would, please contact me and we can discuss
it further. As I always mention, I would like to thank the staff
that attend, especially our cook, Kylie and her lovely assistant
Rhonda. It was the first time for both of them and feeding 25
hungry people is a feat all on its own, let alone doing it three
times per day.
The biggest news I would like to share, is that the
refurbishments of our Wilson facility are all completed, and
it is looking pretty fine. Thank you to all who have been
affected throughout this transitional stage; the flexibility and
enthusiasm in which volunteers, Members and staff have
dealt with the upheaval has been amazing, and as you can
see, it was worth the effort. ‘No pain, no gain,’ isn’t that
how the saying goes? In no time at all it will be like nothing
happened and we will be wondering what all the fuss
was about.
I would like to make a special mention to Lesley Pitt and Lynn
Hoonhout for coming in over the final week of preparation of
the unveiling of the Wilson facility, to set up the craft area for
our volunteers and Members. Many of the staff have been
working hard bringing it all together and have gone over and
above their normal duties. Thank you all, it is the team spirit
that keeps us motivated and working towards one goal. As my
husband likes to continually remind me, there is no number
one in team.
Trish Watson from our events team would also like to
share a few words:
It has been a busy year for the events team. We kicked of the
year with the new Albany Ride, which was well received along
with the long-standing Albany Swim in February.
This was followed in Perth by a fantastic World MS Day, we
had a great turnout for the Street Appeal along with the Hip
Hop Yoga in the park.
Step Up for MSWA saw a record number of people take up the
challenge to climb to the top of Perth’s Central Park building.
These events would not be possible without the help of a
dedicated bunch of volunteers, so we would like to take this
opportunity to say a big THANK YOU to all the Members and
staff who came along to support our events.
30 | MSWA BULLETIN SPRING 2018