CFA Ballarat Helps Celebrate - International Volunteer Managers Day.
" Take the time to thank and celebrate the volunteering leaders and managers near you!”
International Volunteer Managers Day (IVMD) is celebrated every year on 5 November and is a time to recognise and thank those who enhance and enable the spirit of volunteering.
Celebrated for the first time sixteen years ago in 1999, IVMDay has grown to be truly international.
The theme for 2015 is “Volunteer Managers: the power behind super hero volunteers”
Locally, the Ballarat Volunteer Coordinators Network invited volunteer managers, (unpaid and paid) to a morning tea hosted by the CFA District 15 HQ team on Thursday 5th December 2015. The morning tea was a great way to recognise and say thank you and to celebrate the work and programs of volunteer-involving organisations.
CFA District 15 Volunteerism Coordinator Sherene Mounier said “Behind every great group of volunteers is a volunteer manager, who plans and coordinates the volunteer work, recruits and trains the volunteers, and makes sure the experience is positive for both the volunteers and the beneficiaries. Volunteer managers are deserving of our thanks and recognition, too"
Universally, people recognise the dedication and contribution of volunteers - in sport, health, emergency services, faith communities and the environmental lobby... in fact volunteers are involved in just about every aspect of service delivery in all walks of life.
However, volunteering would not be sustainable or succeed without our volunteer leaders and managers, an equally dedicated group of individuals and agencies who are responsible for the coordination, support, training, administration and recruitment of the world's volunteers - skilled professionals who are adept at taking singular passion and turning it into effective action.
CFA District 15 Operations Manger Gavin Hope said “CFA volunteers play a fundamental role in achieving our mission of protecting lives and property. To ensure that we continue to be a thriving volunteer based fire and emergency service now and into the future, we must encourage, maintain and strengthen the value our volunteers bring to Victorian communities.”
“Traditional ideas about volunteering are being challenged every day, and volunteer managers in not only the CFA but other organisations are constantly applying their expertise to meet the diverse motivations of their volunteers and steer that committed and enthusiastic workforce towards their organisation’s purpose and goals.”
It is important to let our volunteer managers know that the spirit of volunteerism is enhanced and enabled by them - and to thank them.”
As well as the monring tea, volunteer managers from the Ballarat and District Volunteer Coordinators Network were given an overview of CFA and the work of our members, a tour of the emmergancy management facility and given a demonstration of a bushfire entrapment procedure in Wendouree Fire Brigades 3.4C tanker.
Author: Sherene Mounier - District Volunteerism Coordinator