It’s your year to volunteer

Based in rural Victoria, Jessica has volunteered with Australian Red Cross Emergency Services for years. Having worked extensively in bushfire-affected areas, she is passionate about supporting communities to lead their own recoveries, while helping people who have lost their homes and cherished belongings to feel less alone as they recover.

“Encouraging and supporting a community-led approach to recovery is key,” says Jessica. “It’s very important the community stays strong and can set its own goals and its own direction. It knows best what it needs to recover, and by walking alongside communities, Australian Red Cross is there to help that process evolve.”

As an Australian Red Cross Transport volunteer, Colin helps drive quality donations from the Melbourne distribution centre to Australian Red Cross Shop locations across the city, where proceeds made from sales go towards supporting our vital programs and services. When he’s not driving, Colin also volunteers with TeleCross — a service that provides regular wellbeing calls to older Australians and others who may be vulnerable or living alone.

"Volunteering with Australian Red Cross gives you a real sense of purpose because you know you’re part of something bigger, helping people feel less alone.”

Willy and Yuly are a young couple from Colombia. After living in Melbourne for four years, they moved to the peaceful community of Mount Gambier, South Australia, in 2023. “Since I was in Colombia, I had been wanting to do something for a good cause,” says Yuly. After hearing about the Aged Care Visiting Scheme at Australian Red Cross, they became volunteers, and were paired up with the Coopers, a married couple living in a nearby nursing home.

“It’s important for us to connect with and visit older people, because sometimes they feel lonely and they feel like, in my opinion, people don't care about them,” reflects Willy. “And the reality is, they're important people in our lives. They give so much. They were our teachers, and the people who have a lot of wisdom. And it's important to let them know that they matter, and we can take care of them.”

In addition to travelling across the country to support people in evacuation centres who have been driven from their homes by disaster as an Emergency Services volunteer, Peg also volunteers with Australian Red Cross TeleRedi, a phone call service that provides vital support to older people and others who may be at risk during extreme weather events.

“We are checking on their physical welfare, but it's also the social connection... And I really enjoy those conversations because we're often talking to people who have got really interesting lives. It is really, really a privilege to be able to listen to some of their stories,” says Peg. “The thing I love most about being a volunteer for the Red Cross is the sense of being on a team. Everybody here is committed, we're here because we want to be, and we're here because we're hoping to make a difference."