Name: Chris Harvey

Age: Young at heart

Occupation: Operations Manager

What motivated you to volunteer with SkillShare?
I was looking for an avenue to use my skills in a meaningful way by making a contribution to our community.

How long have you been involved with SkillShare?
I first registered in mid 2009.

A lot of people say they receive as much as they give when they volunteer… What do you feel you “receive”?
Acting as a SkillShare Volunteer gives me the opportunity to interact with many different people in our community. Each time I strive to understand a little about their world. I learn at least as much as I give. As I apply my skills they are sharpened and developed further by the experience.

What do you enjoy most about volunteering with SkillShare?
I enjoy meeting people and working with them on their organisation’s challenges. When we make progress together this is very satisfying.

Name: Jenny Hooke

Age: 69

Occupation: Graphic Designer, specialising in typography, layout, logo design, proofreading, wedding stationery, calligraphy and desktop publishing. Also as editor of a charity newsletter I occasionally write captions and snappy headings for articles. I am not an illustrator,but can do the odd simple cartoon.

What motivated you to volunteer with SkillShare?
I am winding down my desktop publishing business, but still want to keep my skills up and interact with new people who have different ideas.

How long have you been involved with SkillShare?
About 10 months

A lot of people say they receive as much as they give when they volunteer… What do you feel you “receive”?
The feeling of being useful and new contacts broaden my general experience of life.

Name: Marcus Hoyne

Age: 38

Occupation: Barrister (and sandcastle builder – see photo)

What motivated you to volunteer with SkillShare?
I have done volunteering work with a number of organisations and wanted the ability to put my professional skills to some good use in a voluntary capacity also. I knew the good work that many community organisations had done and this seemed a perfect way to get involved in that process.

How long have you been involved with SkillShare?
Since its inception.

A lot of people say they receive as much as they give when they volunteer…What do you feel you “receive”?
Much thanks from the organisations and a sense of satisfaction that the work I have done is of value of to some people. Somewhat perversely I also get pleasure from the fact that the work I do may give some assistance to people who do not even know of the work that has been done.

What do you enjoy most about volunteering with SkillShare?
Meeting the people from the community organisations and being inspired by how much time and effort they give which far exceeds my minimal contributions and then to have these same, inspirational people being so grateful for my efforts.

What are the challenges of your volunteer work with SkillShare?
The time constraints on the personnel from the community organisations frequently mean that they are unable to give all the resources that I would normally expect from a paying client. You just need to work around that and understand that the community sector has very particular resource limitations. Things may take a week in the private sector may take 6 weeks when relying on Volunteers or unpaid and overworked employees to do it.

What has been your biggest personal achievement with SkillShare?
I was on the management committee of SkillShare for a period of time and we faced a very uncertain future with a number of other organisations coming into the same space and trying to figure out whether we were necessary or relevant anymore. I am amazed by the position that SkillShare currently holds. That is not a personal achievement of mine but I was a very small part of the team that started that process.

In terms of volunteering, my greatest achievement was my work with the Richmond Fellowship (now Mind Australia). We worked through a number of difficulties and issues they had and put them on a sound platform. I still get thanked in their annual report even though the work I did for them was about 4 or 5 years ago!

What are your words of advice for new Volunteers?
Two things.

First, you have to treat your volunteering role as a job in the sense that, once you take it on, you have to stick with it (unless, of course, something dramatic and unforeseen occurs). This means that you need to set time aside for it.

Secondly, and its a related point, do not take on more than you can handle. At the beginning of a Project, Volunteers are always very keen and often volunteer to do everything related to a particular Project. This starts out well but, after weeks or months, it can become very draining and can sometimes led to the Volunteer pulling out of the Project because they simply do not have the time. At the end of the day, the Project is the organisation’s Project and so, to the fullest extent possible, it is organisation that should do all the work they can and the Volunteer should do only those things that only the Volunteer can do. This may mean that the Project takes longer than it otherwise would but so be it – if they organisation needs to move it along faster they will put more resources into it.

Name: Mary Cahill

Age: 59

Occupation: Former school principal; now working part-time on a Project re the educational needs of African refugees.

What motivated you to volunteer with SkillShare?
I wholeheartedly support the concept of volunteering. I am semi-retired so have some time and skills to share.

How long have you been involved with SkillShare?
About 5 years.

A lot of people say they receive as much as they give when they volunteer…What do you feel you “receive”?
I have valued the insight into the various non-profit organisations with which I have worked. I have met a diversity of people. Some of the assignments have been challenging and this has been good.

What do you enjoy most about volunteering with SkillShare?
In being a Volunteer I have enjoyed hearing about the purpose of the various organisations and how they go about their problem-solving. It is good to meet people who have diverse responsibilities.

What are the challenges of your volunteer work with SkillShare?
For me, helping the organisations to form their goals has been the most challenging aspect of being a Volunteer and a monitor. Also most Projects take longer than the original time-line set by the organisation and Volunteer – this is not a major problem, but it is important not to let time slip away because focus and momentum can be lost.

What has been your biggest personal achievement with SkillShare?
I was really pleased to assist in the production of a best practice framework for forming peer support groups. This framework is available online to anyone.

What are your words of advice for new Volunteers?
Set realistic goals (not too ambitious) and time-lines. Enjoy it!