There are many opportunities to help or volunteer in your local community. You may choose to work with a particular group of people, such as the aged or frail, or children and families. You can also work with a recreational or interest group, such as a sports club or an historical society.

You can choose from a huge range of volunteering activities, covering most fields of human endeavour.
You could help in a shop, drive elderly people to social occasions, provide skilled managerial or professional help, serve or deliver food with a cheery smile, teach line dancing - the list goes on...

You can volunteer in many different ways, too. You can work in a team or alongside another volunteer in a ‘buddy system’. You can build a rewarding one-to-one relationship with someone in need. Or you can carry out your volunteering from home, such as organising events or working on your computer. You can make volunteering your major occupation, or just give a few hours every month, or even a day here and there when you can. Every volunteering contribution helps build a vibrant and connected community.

There are many ways in which being a volunteer can be rewarding, including having fun, meeting new people, learning new skills, and getting experience in a field you'd like to work in one day. Read more about this in the attached file.

Volunteering is good for your health!
Did you know that in general volunteers live longer and are healthier and happier?

Did you know that when you volunteer, you improve your overall health, happiness and wellbeing - volunteering makes you feel good! It helps you feel connected with other people, and to feel valuable and worthwhile.This has been proven to have health benefits, such as delaying ageing and even lowering blood pressure in some cases! So even if you volunteer to help others, you'll be helping yourself as well.

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There are so many ways to volunteer to help your community (and benefit yourself) that at times it can be difficult to choose. That's why we suggest you attend a Volunteering in Manningham (ViM) interview with a trained volunteer who'll help you narrow down your search to the most suitable opportunities for you.

In the meantime, the attached list will show you the different participating agencies (and their programs) and the different types of volunteering activities carried out at each agency or program

You can choose from a huge range of volunteering activities, covering most fields of human endeavour.
You could help in a shop, drive elderly people to social occasions, provide skilled managerial or professional help, serve or deliver food with a cheery smile, teach line dancing - the list goes on...

To help you find just the right volunteer position, Volunteering in Manningham has produced this chart showing different volunteering activities and the agencies at which they're carried out. Please note we can't guarantee that the volunteering opportunities mentioned are still available - many are snapped up.

Looking at this chart could save you hours of research on the Internet and the phone. Good luck!

From time to time the Coordinator of Volunteering in Manningham blogs about her volunteering experiences and thoughts.

Victoria's Volunteering Portal is an information resource for volunteers to find out more about volunteering and volunteer work.

Stage 2 will be launched in September 2010, bringing increased interactivity and a a datamatching search facility to help find volunteer opportunities.

If you're looking for suitable volunteering opportunities, it's always worthwhile to look at other websites besides this one. There are many useful websites, at national, state-wide and local levels. Just be warned, some are a lot more useful than others. Even if you don't find a suitable opportunity for yourself, the websites will give you a good idea of the huge range of opportunities available.