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23-May-2024 |

National Volunteer Week at SYC

Established in 1989, National Volunteer Week is the premier celebration of volunteers and volunteerism in Australia. Each year, this special event provides an opportunity to highlight the important role of volunteers in our community and invites people not currently volunteering to give it a go. Across Australia, it is estimated that over 5 million people volunteered through an organisation or group in 2020. This is almost one quarter of people aged 15 years and over.

Volunteers and placement students work alongside SYC employees to assist us and our programs. They are adults of all ages who come from diverse backgrounds and bring a wealth of knowledge and expertise, current trends in learning, theories, techniques, and ideas.

What this year's Volunteer Week looks like for our volunteers and interns:

• 87.92* hours volunteered
• 11 programs impacted
• 61 client interactions

SYC would like to thank and acknowledge some of our recent volunteers: Bella, Ciarne, Flora, Gino, Hannah, Jade, Jasnoor, Lily, Marina, Nimesha, Rebecca, Rich, Sally, Sally, Shikha, Sochenda, Summer, Sue, and Vasilia.

Let’s hear from our volunteers and our staff who are assisted by our volunteers:

“I have really enjoyed my time at SYC and working with Sonia and Anna in the LEES team has been amazing. I have gained invaluable skills and knowledge as well as experience, and everyone has been very supportive during my placement. It has even been part of the inspiration for me to look at doing some further post-grad studies in Human Services when I finish my degree!” Rich E, Intern

“I am a Psychology student and wanted to explore opportunities where I learn more about working with young people. It has been an absolutely amazing experience volunteering with SYC. Every time I go to The Foundry I learn something new and the tasks are very diverse and range from admin to supporting and listening to a young person, to rearranging stock. I love the diversity because you get to learn everything about the company. The people working at SYC are the most impressive group of caring people and I look forward to my shift every week. I feel that volunteering has made me grow as a person and I take pride in what I do as a volunteer.” Bella R, Foundry Volunteer

“Without our volunteers at The Foundry, we wouldn’t be able to hold our art group every Friday. The young people that access the art group are given the opportunity to display and sell their artwork in our annual SALA exhibition and go to meet a lot of prominent members in our community. With the help of our volunteers our young people have been given the skills and the ability to connect with others through a shared interest. It is always interesting to see how our cohort are shocked when they release people like C volunteer their time for free to be here, which shows a genuine interest and investment in our young people.” Lucy Rogers, The Foundry

“The Lived Experience Engagement Service (LEES) have been fortunate to have two dedicated students from Uni SA conduct their student placement with our team. They have proven to be very valuable contributors to our work and have provided unique perspectives to the work we do. I would highly recommend including a student placement to your program.” Sonia Masciantonio, LEES Kent Town

The SYC Youth Justice team has been lucky to have a number of passionate, insightful and kind volunteers with us over the last few years. Our current volunteers Vasllia, Jasnoor, Sue and Flora bring a depth of knowledge and experience to the team and improve the quality of the services that we are able to deliver to our young people. From co-facilitating programs with clients pre-release, to assisting clients on community service orders to engage in meaningful conversations and activities, to admin and everything in between… we are better team for having them around and are forever grateful for their willingness to help. Emily Place, Youth Justice Team

To find out more about our current volunteering opportunities, click here.