If you go to Collingwood Neighbourhood House on Wednesday afternoons for lunch, you will meet Sofia Daws, a volunteer cook who resides in the Collingwood housing estate; she will greet you with a big smile.

She has been doing volunteer work for 6 months at Collingwood Neighbourhood House and the Neighbourhood Justice Centre every fortnight.

“I am doing volunteer work because I enjoy the company of others and like helping people.  By doing it I feel happier and being active,” said Daws.

Daws is one of many volunteers who donate their time to work for community organisations in the City of Yarra.

Yarra Volunteer Support Program (YVSP) is a City of Yarra funded program to coordinate and network community organisations’ activities within the council area.  For over a year it has been coordinating volunteer activities within the council.

''The role of coordinating the Volunteer Coordinator Network is very important, as community organisation workers are quite busy with their own work it is hard to have a self-sustaining network.  It requires someone to make it happen” said Michael McMahon, one of YVSP’s coordinators.

In August 2009 funding to coordinate volunteer activities will end, and at present some efforts have been made to ensure that the coordination of position of the program to be re-funded, as its absence will affect community organisation volunteer activities, particularly in areas of coordination and sharing resources. 

Jesuit Social Services is one of the organisations that rely on volunteers’ work to run and participate in some of its activities. 

“Participation in the Cross Cultural Communication project is through volunteers; it gives them experience and confidence so they can look for a paid job” said Kerry Wise, Jesuit Social Services community development worker.

City of Yarra has provided funding for community organisations and individuals’ initiatives.  For 2009, the council awarded $1,037,984 to 155 local community initiatives.  Volunteers’ involvement in these organisations has been greatly valued by the council.

“There are different community groups that run volunteers’ activities with different aims.  These community groups are the fabric of our society” said Aldo Malavasi, City of Yarra Community Advocacy officer.

To appreciate the volunteers’ work in the council area, City of Yarra will hold a ceremony during national volunteer week on May this year.

*Kogoya is a participant of the yarraReporter civic journalism project run by Infoxchange Australia.