Volunteers serving the community

Saturday, 25 October 2014 00:05 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Last week I got a glimpse of what volunteering really means. I was at the awards presentation of a competition titled ‘Lights Camera Volunteer (LCV) Campaign’ showcasing the talent of high school students in Western Australia (WA). The campaign was meant to increase awareness of the importance of volunteering. Eight finalists had been selected and filmlets they had produced were screened. They ranged from displaying the work of volunteers building homes for the homeless rural folk in Laos, helping to manage children with diabetes, training disabled young ones to get used to activities like horse riding, and running a home for neglected dogs. The professionalism shown by the production teams in identifying a project, raising the necessary funds, planning and implementing a well thought out programme, and showing success was indeed praiseworthy. Alongside the film contest was a photo competition for non-profit organisations in WA which were invited to send a photograph that best depicted what makes volunteering unique in their organisations. The response was most encouraging and 28 selected pictures were displayed for the audience to vote for their choice with the ones getting the most number of preferences sharing three cash prizes.

Empowering social change

The LCV Campaign was organised by ‘WASTV’ (West Australian Students TV) – a volunteer student run non-profit organisation that provides media and marketing services free of charge to local charities and volunteer groups with the goal of empowering social change. “We started as a volunteer run YouTube channel to give students and the wider community a platform to create, educate and advocate giving them access to a tiny part of the media and all the benefits that come with it,” said WASTV CEO Binu Jayawardena. “Today, after 18 months, WASTV is much more than a mere YouTube Channel. As time passed it became clear that our valuable skills should be almost exclusively diverted to helping local charities, non-profits and start-up organisations who have the best ideas, intentions and potential, but often not best financial capacity to afford film and media services that are readily available to large corporations and institutions,” he told the representative gathering present at the awards evening. Volunteer organisations seek the help of WASTV to create video content to promote their causes. WASTV has helped a number of such organisations to create awareness of their programs in a bid to help in their fund raising campaigns and to attract more volunteers for their work. Among them are the RSPCA (Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals), the Australian Organ Donor Registry , WA AIDS Council, Zonta Women’s Refuge, The Oaktree Foundation and TLG (Teach Learn Grow).

Something to offer everyone

WASTV is continuously engaged in improving the skills of their members and encourages creativity by making short films and websites. Team WASTV often send in their work to film contests to gain awareness and recognition. Following the submission of a proposal on Social Innovation and taking into account the work WASDTV had done, WA Office of the Premier had given a handsome grant to continue the work helping other volunteer organisations in their marketing and communications. WASTV volunteers are a group of filmmakers who help raise awareness of worthy causes and volunteering opportunities across WA. WASTV offers students an opportunity to get involved at every level – from acting to directing, from editing to sound recording, and from producing to photography. “We have something to offer everyone,” says WEASTV CEO.

Volunteering experience

A recent report on volunteerism says that most Australians who volunteer say they are satisfied with their experience of volunteering. This is not to say that every volunteering experience is positive or to dismiss that sometimes things do go wrong. The report also considers progress on a range of protections for volunteers and the state of volunteer rights in Australia. According to a survey, contributing to the community is important to the majority of volunteers. People volunteer for diverse reasons including the personal satisfaction it gives them, the sense of belonging to community, and as a pathway to employment through the development of work experience and skills.