108 Bargara Rd
Bundaberg East, Qld, 4670
If you’re looking for a place to start on that New Year’s resolution or desire to give back to the community, IMPACT Community Services’ AGED CARE VOLUNTEER VISITORS SCHEME (formerly Community Visitor's Scheme ) is here for 2022.
And we’re looking for more volunteers to join our dedicated team.
The ACVVS is a friendship program linking volunteer visitors with people who are isolated at home or live in aged care facilities throughout the Bundaberg and Burnett regions.
For ACVVS coordinator Heather Hinsbey, the world of volunteering is among her passions rather than simply a job.
When Heather took up the ACVVS role in 2014, she had an understanding of the importance of a program which sought to provide connection, conversation, and compassion for the elderly who were in great need of company.
Not long after her mother passed away, Heather started volunteering too.
“It was therapeutic for me,” she said.
Heather said, “they were like mums”, full of understanding and they had many pearls of wisdom.
While she probably would have found her way to volunteering eventually, Heather said it was beneficial for her when she did.
She said volunteering was rewarding in many ways, particularly in gaining perspective, and even developing as a person.
Through ACVVS volunteering Heather said you gain an appreciation for what people have been through and how they have paved the way for future generations.
Heather said the ACVVS team was always looking for more people to join.
She also encouraged anyone with a culturally and linguistically diverse background with compassion for older people and an interest in volunteering to contact IMPACT.
She said people can be very socially isolated and this can be amplified for people with a different cultural background and if there’s a language barrier.
The ACVVS team has volunteers throughout Bundaberg, Gin Gin, Childers, Gayndah and Monto.
ACVVS provides a regular familiar face for an aged person to interact with, whether that be with a cuppa and a chat, board game, or even walk.
The program ask that volunteers visit a minimum of once a fortnight and spend time doing something you both enjoy.
Heather said the volunteers love what they do. Some have multiple people they visit!
If you would like to start the new year with some volunteering, call 0448 035 891 or 07 4153 4233.
For more information click here.
Please note: This website may contain references to, or feature images, videos, and voices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples who have passed away.
