Wesley Mission Volunteer History

Wesley Mission has a long history in volunteering which grew from our church missionary ethic and our work amongst the slums of early Sydney. As a Mission Church our philanthropic ministry is vitally important.

Today our volunteers are not necessarily members of our congregations, and due to the diversity of volunteering positions available within Wesley Mission, they can actually have a challenging ‘career’ path within our wider ministry.

Volunteers are involved in almost every facet of our work, as care givers to the elderly, leaders on children’s camps, cafeteria staff, bus and car drivers, visitors, clerks, receptionists, shop assistants, auxiliary workers, pianists, telephone counsellors, tutors, handymen, librarians, event and promotions assistants, waiters and waitresses, entertainers, care givers to the alcoholic and homeless, financial and welfare counsellors and those who take up various positions on our management boards.

Volunteers are highly significant to the Mission for a number of reasons. They bring with them a strong desire to serve and to care which adds a tremendous depth to the contribution given. Volunteers have the time to attend to those special details that may mean so much to someone who is confined by some physical, mental or emotional disability.

Volunteers bring with them unique life experiences and special skills and interests to develop and enrich their areas of work. Volunteers bring an objective view to the work being performed and thus may often produce real insights into the improvement of a service provided.

Perhaps most importantly, volunteers engender in those for whom they are caring a real sense of dignity. When a resident or a client realizes that a volunteer is there to care for them for no apparent reason such as a physical or material reward, they can only conclude that they as a individual must be important enough to warrant someone’s time and interest. This factor alone has a tremendous value in communicating love, care and support to someone in need.

1812 - First Methodist church in Sydney.

1884 - A new name was chosen - Central Methodist Mission.

1893 - Dalmar Child & Family Care commenced. Volunteers in the early days were known as the ‘Ladies Committee’.

The early contribution of our volunteers involved missionary work through groups such as the Ladies Benevolent Society and Ladies Sectional Committee which visited homes, ships, lodging houses, factory tearooms and held a weekly mothers’ meeting. The mothers meetings involved the poor women of Sydney who came and were given tea and educational advice on hygiene, cooking and homecare. 1

1893 circa - Edward Eagar Lodge commences care for Sydney’s Homeless. Over the years residents volunteer within other Mission centres, as part of their rehabilitation program.

A well-known Wesley Volunteer is Charlie Woodward who worked in the prisons and railways from

1905-1931 . He would visit cells at magistrates courts at Redfern and Newtown to work among drunks and petty criminals. This work grew out of his own petty criminal background and is the reason why he was such a good volunteer “Other churches carried out similar work to that done by Charlie Woodward for more than two decades but none did it more successfully. The secret of his success was that he had been through the mill himself: it was very difficult to reject the testimony of a man who had sunk to the lowest depths reached by any of his hearers”. 2

1914 - Spring Fair commences run totally by volunteers. The longest running fund raising event in Australia. Currently raising in excess of $360,000 per year. During the war years and the depression, volunteers helped run soup kitchens. The early 1930’s volunteers assisted with destitute, deserted wives and pregnant girls thrown out of home and this continued even after the WW2. The Ladies Committee ran Dalmar, a children’s home.

1946 - Wesley Private Hospital (originally Waddell House), commenced with a Ladies Auxiliary and volunteer support.

1949 - Lottie Stewart Hospital Ladies Auxiliary formed one year after the hospital opened. Three women who are close friends (Daphne Elvery, Marion Douglas and Gwen Budge) started their voluntary work. They held fundraising events and gave up their weekends to take the refreshment trolley around the wards. In 2001, these three original volunteers are still serving!

1959 - W.G. Taylor opens with Auxiliary and volunteer support.

1962 - Hoban House opens, with immediate volunteer assistant.

1963 - Lifeline telephone counselling commenced. Originally the object was to recruit volunteer laity on the basis of their spiritual commitment and to equip them for effective service and witness. The six-month training course included theology, biblical studies and specialised courses in counselling and witnessing. In 1964 the Lifeline Movement became the general service agency within the Mission wherein the laity were trained not only as telephone counsellors but as volunteer workers in Wesley Centre or in the homes. 3

1973 - Vision Valley Camp opened, with all camp counsellors being volunteers.

1974 - H.C. Foreman Lodge opens it doors with immediate Auxiliary and volunteer contribution.

1975 - R.J Williams Lodge opens its doors, with immediate volunteer support.

1976 - R.E Tebbut Lodge and Vickery Lodge commence, with immediate volunteer help.

1977 - The Central Methodist Mission becomes part of the Uniting Church in Australia.

- For the third time in its history our name changed to Wesley Central Mission.

1981 - School for Seniors commences. All tutors to this day are volunteers.

1982 - Serenity Farm developed with resident volunteer assistance.

1985 - First Mission-wide full time Volunteer Coordinator appointed as part of Pastoral Department.

- First Wesley Mission ‘Volunteers Appreciation Dinner’ to thank our volunteers was held, and has been held annually ever since.

1986 - Alan Walker Village opens with immediate volunteer support.

1988 - The Hills Family Centre commenced services, with volunteers playing a major role.

1989 - Wesley Mission Volunteers and Staff assisted in major Flood Relief in Nyngan.

- Volunteer Department is restructured as part of the Human Resources department.

1990 - Wesley Mission commences involvement with An Australian Christmas at Darling Harbour (Sydney). Over 1500 volunteers are involved each year.

1991 - Mission-wide data collection of volunteer hours worked in centres commences.

1993 - Largest single school involvement in volunteering in the century. 120 Year 10 students from one high school give service at 5 Mission centres over 2 days.

1994 - Volunteer Food collections commence at High Schools throughout Sydney, with Epping Boys High School and Ravenswood College undertaking the StreetSmart Food Appeal. 671 bags of food were prepared for distribution.

- Wesley Institute For Ministry and the Arts (WIMA) prepares Drummoyne Campus with over 700 hours of student volunteer assistance.

1995 - Wesley Mission Spirit of Mission Awards established. A major award is nominated for ‘Volunteer of the Year’.

- Charlie Woodward Lodge opens its doors with immediate volunteer support.

1996 - A special recognition in the form of a ‘Volunteer Award’ is given at the Spirit of Mission Dinner. This has continued as an annual award.

- Wesley Dalmar Extra Hands Volunteer Home Visitation Program commences.

- Mission-wide Volunteer Policies & Procedures document is released.

- Annual Volunteer hours across the Mission exceed 150,000 hours.

1997 - First Volunteer Network organised within the Mission.

- Streetsmart Outreach (previously Drug Arm) commenced. Volunteers operate from vans, providing outreach to young people on the streets.

- Mrs Beverley Moyes AM retires after 17 years as Spring Fair President, having raised a remarkable $3.8 million dollars.

- Largest corporate volunteer effort in one day when 112 staff from one organisation gave service at 7 different Wesley Mission centres for their ‘Community Service Day’.

1999 - Serenity Furniture opens its door with all volunteers coming from Serenity House.

- Sydney Lifeline Bookfair commenced, with volunteers moving over 50 pallets of books.

- Seven competency standards, from the Community Services Training Package, are customised by The Hills Family Centre, for use by volunteers in home visitation with families

- Mrs Kathleen Herring retired after 30 years as the Lottie Stewart Hospital Auxiliary President.

- Quakers Hills Family Centre commences a breakfast club run by volunteers.

2000 - Position name change, from Volunteer Coordinator to Manager Volunteer Services.

- Olympic Outreach by Wesley Mission volunteers supported by Reach Out 2000 team from overseas.

- First Volunteer Supervisors Information Day held, visiting 3 centres.

- Largest number of Corporate Staff volunteers in one day at one centre, with 73 corporate volunteers serving at Vision Valley.

- Highest level volunteer activity in June 2000 with a total of 28,030 hours! Lifeline (2100 hours), School for Seniors (1299 hours), Lottie Stewart Hospital (900 hours), Serenity House (931 hours), Wesley Clothing (420 hours), Edward Eagar Lodge (380 hours), Christmas Time (22,000 hours)

- Riverstone Family Centre opens with immediate volunteer assistance.

- Wesley Dalmar Generations Connect begins volunteer home visiting program.

- Mission volunteers and staff assist in Flood Relief in the Tamworth, Gunnedah, Narrabri (NSW) area.

- Wesley Mission has more than 3,000 volunteers who contributed 162,000 hours, which equates to 82 additional staff, or $2.23 million.

2001 - Wesley Mission Volunteer Website launched, www.wesleymission.org.au/volunteer 

- Wesley Mission celebrates International Year of Volunteers.

An interesting observation between the volunteering of our earlier years and today, is that similar work is still undertaken. Then, as now, Wesley Mission volunteers are working amongst the homeless, drug addicts, women and men who live on the streets. While much of the early volunteer work has grown into paid work, such as the work amongst the prisons with StreetSmart Reiby Program, our need for volunteers continues to grow.

People volunteer with Wesley Mission for a wide variety of reasons: young people facing unemployment seek job experience through volunteering; women brush up their skills before returning to the work force or simply seek a part time opportunity to use their abilities in a positive and helpful manner; retirees come with a life of experience and expertise to share with those who may benefit enormously from their contribution; working men and women who find that their field of employment offers insufficient challenges and stimulation seek volunteer work that will offer appropriate motivations and rewards; lonely or socially isolated individuals become involved as volunteers in order to meet people and operate within a functioning team, and others simply identify a job that needs doing and become involved so that it may be accomplished.

Wesley Mission has a high retention rate of long serving volunteers. Not only do these volunteers give continuity of service and ‘service memory’ to our many programs, but the more experienced among them often become group leaders and counsellors to new recruits.

Wesley Mission’s volunteer work has kept the church’s mission alive. Today we have over 3,500 volunteers working in a range of disciplines.

Centres of Volunteer Service:

• Administration/Head Office - accounts, clerical, filing, mailing
• Alan Walker Village - Bus Driver, Residents committee, Shuffleboard co-ordinator, Friends committee, gardening club, pianist, librarian, visitors, Newsletter committee, clerical, FROGS programme.
• Charlie Woodward Lodge - Activities, clerical/personal care.
• Chinese Library - Librarians
• Communications - Clerical
• Corporate Marketing - staff from other organisations get involved with Wesley activities, eg: American Express staff visited RJ Williams Lodge residents and undertook a clean up parts of the facility; Balanced IT worked on our StreetSmart vans; Commonwealth Bank staff help at An Australian Christmas and helped pack products donated for the Flood appeal 2001 into 400 hampers distributed to flood victims.
• Creditline - Financial Counsellors
• Dalmar - general assistance, Yulefest dinner, holiday volunteer, kitchen assistance, support services, professional services, STU Program Assistants, Extra Hands, Generations Connect
• Deferred Giving - Telemarketing
• Dunbar Library - Librarians
• Edward Eagar Lodge - Promotions & Fundraising - Fete Committee, car driver, clerical, Personal Care, general activities
• Events and Promotions
• Financial & Accounting Services - Clerical
• Frank Vickery Village - musician, visitor, bus driver, activities assistant, bus trip assistant, Co-ordinator of monthly BBQ, general assistant.
• Fundraising - Clerical
• H C Foreman Lodge - Auxiliary, general help, musician-pianist, pastoral, domestic, computer and office assistant, sewing, visitors
• Head Office - Graphic designer, clerical
• Hoban House - activities/domestic, visitor, carer, activities assistant, handyperson, general assistant, Chinese speaker visitor
• Information Technology - Network assistant
• Lifeforce Suicide Prevention - Mailout/Workshop preparation
• Lifeline - counsellors, telephone counsellors, bookfair assistants, clerical, administration, general helpers
• Lottie Stewart Hospital - Pastoral, coffee shop assistants, activities-palliative care, personal carers, Huntingtons Lodge Spinal Unit, fundraising, musicians, bingo activities, singalong, librarians, auxiliary members
• Mangrove Mountain Retreat- Counsellors, maintenance
• Pastoral Division - clerical and administrative assistants, library assistants, Spring Fair Assistants, bible studies, study group leaders, fundraising.
• Quakers Hills Family Centre - Management Committee, breakfast outreach, group work, technical support team.
• Quality Accreditation & Improvement - industry expertise
• R E Tebbutt Lodge - Fundraising, gardeners, general assistants, visitors, activities
• R J Williams Lodge - activities, handypersons, drivers,
• School For Seniors - tutors, general volunteers, canteen, book shop
• Serenity House - Promotions and Fundraising, counsellors, Serenity Furniture
• Spring Fair - general assistance, cooking, collecting, serving and fundraising
• Streetsmart Youth Services - van outreach and street work, administration
• The Hills Family Centre - clerical, advisory committee, maintenance, fundraising, general assistants, gardeners
• The Hills Family Centre - Extra Hands
• Vision Valley - Camp leaders, counsellors
• Volunteer Department - An Australian Christmas, general, marketing assistants, Spring Fair Assistants, clerical, handypersons
• W G Taylor Village - visitors, handy persons, gardening, personal care, activities assistants, bus driver, musicians
• Wesley Bookshop - Shop assistants
• Wesley Clothing - Shop assistants
• Wesley Institute for the Ministry of the Arts - general assistance, librarians, clerical
• Wesley Life Skills - Assistant social educators
• Wesley Private Hospital - Fete assistants, garden maintenance, shop assistants, auxiliary, reception, domestic-laundry, kitchen hand, activities, painting, musicians
• Wesley Mission Board Members, church councillors and elders

Programs with Volunteer Support

Volunteering in Pastoral Services.

As Christ once manifested himself through a human body, He now manifests himself through his body, the church. Just as the co-dependent members of the human body work together in cooperation to achieve its aims so does the ‘body of Christ’.

The apostle Paul once wrote: Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues. (1 Cor 12:27-28)

Volunteering within Pastoral Services is the ‘body of Christ’ at work. In Pastoral Services full time ‘teachers’, ‘prophets’ and ‘administrators’ work together with hundreds of gifted church members to fulfill the Christian mandate.

Pastoral Services could not survive without volunteers. Every day volunteers conduct home group fellowships and share their faith with friends and neighbors. They lead worship, collate newsletters, ring shut-ins and offer pastoral care. They work in the library, behind desks, by photocopier machines and on the end of telephones. They organize Spring Fair events, keep administrative records and prepare the elements of communion. It is through volunteering, that is, committed Christians using their gifts in the service of God, that the church functions as the church.

The volunteer discovers God’s remarkable law of recompense: that the more you give to others in complete willingness and without thought of personal return, the more God makes sure you receive rewards, “pushed down and running over - a hundred fold”, both here on earth and in heaven.

Thank you volunteers for all that you do. One day Jesus will say to you “for I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.” – Well done!

Spring Fair

The Spring Fair began in 1914 with an effort to raise funds to buy comforts for the soldiers going overseas to Gallipoli and Europe. It has continued unabated ever since. For most of that time, Spring Fair was organized by a handful of women and held on one day in the lower Sydney Town Hall. With Rev Alan Walker’s encouragement, it was enlarged to run over three days and brought into Wesley Centre. For some of this time the Spring Fair was led by his wife, Mrs. Win Walker. Each year saw the amount raised to about $6,000. The idea of having candidates specially to organise fund-raising to support their own particular area of interest spurred the volunteers on and by the late 1970’s the annual return was about $30,000.

When Rev. Gordon Moyes became Superintendent in the late 1970’s, the amount raised jumped to over $40,000. But the catalyst for dramatic improvement was the appointment of Mrs. Beverley Moyes as President of the Spring Fair committee. She gathered around her a team of dedicated men and women as a central committee, many of them leading local committees.

The number of volunteer fund raisers reached more than 400. Centrally organized activities such as the Launching Dinner, concerts, most popular Candidate competitions and significant prizes of overseas trips and other valuables given in appreciation saw a rapid escalation of the money raised. Under her 17 years of leadership more than $3.8 million was raised over and beyond expenses. By the end of the twentieth century, close to $400,000 was being raised annually, and in the previous twenty years a total of $4.5 million has been raised by a strong work-force of volunteers. Wesley Mission has strict criteria for fund-raising and does not permit any gambling or use of alcohol in its fundraising because many of our clients in our centres are the victims of the mis-use of both.

A unique feature of Spring Fair is the Candidate who represents the efforts of a particular area of the Mission’s work. The candidate is usually chosen from among the clients of that centre. Hence a centre like Serenity Lodge which supports recovering homeless alcoholics, is represented by a recovering, homeless alcoholic. A disabilities support service will have a client who is severely disabled. An Aged Care centre will have an aged person as the candidate. Because of this principle, most of our active fund-raisers who are introduced at the launch in Wesley Theatre, may be on a stage in front of people, being applauded for the first time in his or her life. One Aged Care Centre candidate recently was 104 years of age! Some disabled people have never received such applause ever. When they receive their certificates of appreciation for participating, it is sometimes the first certificate they have ever received.

The working together across all areas of the Mission builds a unity of spirit that is increasingly valuable.

About 10,000 people attend Spring Fair each year. But the happiest people are not those who have purchased beautiful handcrafts, bottled jams, and food, but those who have worked the hardest to achieve the financial results. They are very special volunteers.

Wesley Bookshop

A group of about ten volunteers work regularly in our bookshop, bringing special qualities to this ministry. Aged from 30 years onwards, with our eldest volunteer, an 86 year old who travels into the city each week from Alan Walker Village

“Extra Hands”

Extra Hands Volunteer Home Visiting Program was developed in the Baulkham Hills shire of Sydney in 1996, as an undertaking of the Hills Family Centre. The Centre is committed to assisting vulnerable families under stress, to identify management strategies which will assist in the prevention family breakdown and address cases of child protection.

The Centre’s involvement in the community revealed a lack of services providing personal and practical support to families. Further research resulted in a recommendation for personal and practical support in the home, using trained volunteers who complemented the paid position of a qualified Family Worker. These volunteers are known as “Extra Hands”.

The Family worker’s role is that of caseworker/counsellor, while the ‘Extra Hand’ provides personal and practical support. The professional and trained volunteer thus work side by side, providing a comprehensive service for the client.

The Extra Hands Home Visiting Program has been so successful in achieving its goals that the Centre embarked upon the ambitious project of developing nationally accredited competency based training for home visiting volunteer early in 1999. The Trainers Manual for Home Visiting with Families is part of the result, accompanied by seven competency standards for volunteers in home visiting. These standards may be used to assess volunteers allowing them to obtain a Statement of Attainment, or they may be used as guidelines for program management.

“How To Drug Proof Your Kids”

How To Drug Proof Your Kids (DPYK) is an innovative and relevant education, prevention, intervention, and parenting program designed to empower and equip parents to be more effective in helping steer their children away from using drugs.

Trained volunteers deliver training for Parents, on: • How to manage their children. • Skills to address issues that arise between them and their children when drugs are concerned. • Evaluate how their own attitudes, beliefs and behaviours can influence the lifestyle choices made by their children.

Evidence shows that when parents are involved in the process of drug prevention, the risk factors for teenage drug use are significantly reduced.

StreetSmart

Wesley StreetSmart Youth Outreach Service, based at Carlingford, is an innovative program designed to meet young people where they are at risk, on the streets of Sydney. It is a mobile service operating from a specially outfitted van, currently reaching out to young people on the streets of Glebe, Drummoyne, Five Dock and Ryde on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. The program will eventually be extended to the Hills District, Parramatta, Sutherland and other areas of need.

Trained staff and volunteers help young people identify: • options for accommodation • provide information about drugs, alcohol and other addictions • make referrals to specialist medical or legal advice.

Lifeline Sydney

At Lifeline Sydney we have 275 volunteers providing more than 27,000 hours of support each year in a range of capacities.

Core to the work of Lifeline Sydney is the 24 hour telephone counselling service for people in crisis, where 200 trained volunteers ensure the continued provision of the service day and night, 365 days of the year.

Being a telephone counsellor is not easy. It requires commitment to spend 100 hours training prior to going on to the telephones. Once on the telephones it requires the dedication to regularly attend fortnightly shifts including overnight shifts, and to continue to expand skills through advanced training and supervision.

If volunteers cannot attend their scheduled shift, they are required to arrange a swap with another volunteer. If a shift is not filled there is no-one to answer that telephone.

Although the commitment from the volunteers is significant, so too are the benefits from volunteering with Lifeline. Volunteers really are making a difference to people in need, but there is also an opportunity for their own personal growth (especially through the training), the development of skills which are directly transferable to their future career, the feeling that they are giving back to the community, and the framework of supervision and support which is provided.

This is reflected in strong interest from the community for becoming a Lifeline Volunteer, which is against the trend for volunteering, and it is increasing. In Lifeline Sydney’s most recent recruitment in February 2001, 108 prospective volunteers were interviewed for 62 positions in the training course.

One of the reasons that Lifeline has remained attractive to volunteers is the strength of the training and supervision. A recent survey of the volunteer trainees indicates that 50% started with Lifeline Sydney to gain experience, knowledge and skill development. But this is not the sole reason for volunteering with Lifeline Sydney, 30% indicated they joined the service to help others and give back to the community.

While interest remains strong, the length of stay for volunteers is shorter than it used to be, although we have some extremely committed, long term volunteers, one of whom has been with us for 38 years, since the service commenced, and several others who have served for more than 20 years.

The change in volunteering patterns reflects the changes in people’s lives. Surveys on people resigning from Lifeline Sydney indicate that 47% leave because of other commitments, mostly work and study. Lifeline Sydney continually needs to recruit new volunteers to handle the ever-increasing demand for our services. There are still many calls that go unanswered.

We recognise that people are busy, often juggling family, work and study, they move around between cities and countries and careers. We recognise that volunteers have diverse needs and constantly look at ways to provide volunteers with a most worthwhile experience, while at the same time ensuring the benefit to the organisation is also a positive one.

Dalmar – Foster Care

This programme recruits volunteers, known as ‘foster or community carers’ to take on the extremely challenging role of caring for children and young people who, for a variety of reasons, are not able to live with their families of birth. Many children are placed in care voluntarily by their birth families; others, because of abuse or neglect are removed by the Department of Community Services to prevent further harm. Foster carers participate in a thorough training and screening process to ensure that carers are matched appropriately with children requiring placement. Ongoing training and support for both foster carers and children in care is provided by professionally qualified staff who monitor placement progress. The work undertaken by foster carers is incredibly important and should never be underestimated. They not only provide comfort and stability to vulnerable children and young people who are hurting and confused but play an integral role in restoring the very fabric of our society.

The foster carer is the lifeblood of our program, providing care 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to children placed with them. Although they receive a great deal of support from caseworkers within the program, essentially foster carers are the people who have deal face to face with issues children and young people in care invariably have.

The approved carers include single people, couples with their own children, couples without their own children, and couples and singles whose own children have grown up and moved from home. As we work hard to match a child’s needs with what a carer is able to provide, it is important that we have a wide cross-section of carers -essentially mirroring families within the wider community.