Shout Out For New VOLUNTEERS & LEADERS

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U3A Wallan Inc Committee meets the first Monday of the Month at 1pm at Wallan Neighbourhood House, we would love to see you there.

A big ‘Shout Out’ to our Dear and Valued Members – Volunteers Wanted – Opportunity to be Connected!

Please consider a self-nomination to be eligible for committee election in 2023, we appreciate your time is precious and we would love if you could share some time for organisational responsibilities so we can continue to grow and thrive our inclusive and diverse community!

About Us in a Nutshell:

If people support and believe in our U3A Wallan Inc mission to make the third age the fun age for Wallan and district residents through participation in U3A Wallan Inc. activities, they will ask to contribute or help without needing to be asked! U3A Wallan Inc was established in 2013 for people in their third age. U3A Wallan Inc is community based volunteer organisation open to anyone who is over the age of 45 and are retired or are semi-retired. The U3A Wallan Inc aim is to provide opportunities for seniors to learn, teach, share and to give mutual support to each other in a friendly and warm environment, regardless of ethnicity, religion, ability or disability; hence we pride ourselves to engage the third age community to continue to learn and share knowledge in our diverse community!

U3A Wallan Inc offers a chance to learn, a chance to teach and offers opportunities not only to learn but to become a class tutor, leader, to share with others a lifetimes worth of skills and knowledge. If you are interested to offer a class/activity email your ideas to secretary@u3awallan.org.au – Attention Wendy B

U3A Wallan Inc are devoted to healthy and productive aging; providing affordable learning, physical activities and our classes cover a wide range of interest areas, from academic to physical and artistic activities. Our members enjoy both the intellectual engagement and the social aspect of our classes.

U3A Wallan Inc is operated by a Management Committee elected by the members at the Annual General Meeting each year. We are one, we are many. While operating independently with our own elected committee we are supported by U3A Network Victoria which provides organisational planning support as well as facilitating broader relationships between member U3A’s and affiliates, peer organisations and Government.

Let’s jump right in! Volunteers Wanted – Every little bit of time offered is a help! We need to figure out how to reach people who are passionate about our organisation’s cause and work, so we thought to email you! To plant a seed in the hope that you may consider putting up your hand to help us keep running this wonderful organisation and third age community.

What can we offer our new volunteers:

  • No time commitments; flexible volunteer commitments, hours, days, weeks, time
  • Be specific on how you may be able to help our great organisation
  • Offer support and training for our new volunteers (you will never be alone!)
  • Highlight the impact of how volunteers make a difference to the growth and operations of our organisation
  • Match our volunteers to the right tasks and activities; hence introverts and extroverts are welcome!
  • Celebrate National volunteer week and reward our volunteers by shouting the breakfast, lunch or dinner – Monday 15 – Sunday 21 May 2023. National Volunteer Week (NVW) is Australia’s largest annual celebration of volunteers and their important contribution to our communities
  • Thank you cards sent to our volunteers and mentioned in our newsletters
  • Work to make volunteering and helping appealing to our members and accessible to all our members regardless of your skills, and availability.
  • Give you purpose in life, build your organisation and work skills and most of all offer social connectedness which is so important as we age!

What might our volunteers be asked to do:

  • Help set up an activity and be a class activity ‘Greeter’ by welcoming our members to our classes/activities; help our class leaders manage the class/activity sign in sheet/class fee
  • Become a U3A Ambassador – help promote our organisation by attending publicity days; a few times a year ie: Open / Registration Day
  • Nominate for a committee position at our Annual General Meeting in March 2023
  • Become a Class/Activity Leader – explore the idea of imparting your experiences/knowledge and run a class or activity
  • Support our dedicated Course Coordinator – Wendy B
  • Support our hard working secretary – Brenda N
  • Support our social secretary – Lesley
  • Attend our monthly committee meeting (optional)
  • Offer new innovative, creative ideas, collaborate with our current members and committee members to grow our organisation
  • Ask a friend if they like to join our volunteer movement
  • Track your volunteers hours, so we know exactly how much you are giving back to our organisation
  • And so much more, depending on your availability

Example Volunteers Positions

  • Course coordinator support person
  • Secretary support person
  • Social secretary support person
  • Class Leader support person
  • Excursion support person
  • Special Event volunteers
  • Newsletter collaborator
  • Publicity support person
  • Proxy person for committee members

Benefits of volunteering

Volunteering is all about making a difference in your community; it also benefits you personally as it offers the chance to:

  • act on your values, passions and interests
  • make new friendships and create professional networks
  • gain work experience and learn new skills and challenge yourself in a supportive environment
  • enjoy new social and cultural experiences
  • develop personally and build on your self confidence and self-esteem
  • reap the benefits of better physical and mental health as cited in many studies that “volunteering makes us healthier and happier”
  • feel gratitude, warm and fuzzy about helping your community and simply have fun!

Volunteer Review

“I was introduced to the idea of joining U3A Wallan Inc by a very dear friend of mine. I quickly fell in love with the activities on offer and before long I felt at home offering my help (volunteering) with the odd technical and admin issue and to navigate creating the new U3A Wallan Inc website. It felt so good to be giving back to my community which has offered so much to me and, it simply felt good to help and make a difference to the people lives who want to continue to learn, engage and be connected to their community.” Anonymous 😊

Now that you know how to what a volunteer role might look like at U3A Wallan Inc, please take the next step and visit our office on Mondays in person or via email at secretary@u3awallan.org.au or phone/text 0438 107 300 your expression of interest.