News

Press Release – ‘Thanks for the Hand’ – National Volunteer Week

Monday 10th May to Friday 16th May is National Volunteer Week and it is a timely reminder to say thank you for the amazing contribution that volunteers make to Australian society.

At Peninsula Community Legal Centre the importance of volunteers to the provision of legal services is vital for the organisation’s operation.

Manager of Volunteer and Education Programs, Andrea Florance, says: ‘With the assistance of our volunteers, Peninsula Community Legal Centre is able to provide up to 8 additional legal advice sessions every week, across our catchment area. This has meant that this year already hundreds of people have been assisted by our team of 130 dedicated volunteers.

‘In 2008-9 alone, volunteers provided free legal advice to 1,605 clients. Volunteers also assist with governance, law reform, community legal education activities and administrative tasks.

‘Volunteers are an essential part of our organisation and enable us to provide services to the community over and above the services for which we are funded. The services provided by the Centre’s volunteers are imperative for achieving access to justice and helping to redress the imbalance that disadvantage might otherwise cause.’

The theme for National Volunteer Week is Volunteering: now, more than ever and highlights that volunteering, now, more than ever, is important to Australian society and the contribution of all volunteers must be recognised.

Volunteering benefits both our community and the individual volunteer by strengthening relations between citizens and by creating opportunities for participation within communities. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Voluntary Work, Australia, survey 2006, about 5.4 million adults, which equates to 34% of the population, do voluntary work each year in Australia.

Peninsula Community Legal Centre says ‘Thanks for the hand in 2010, to our magnificent volunteers’.

For more information about free legal services, contact Peninsula Community Legal Centre on 9783 3600.