Volunteering

Share your skills and help community grow

While we're a member-based organisation, we really value contributions to our efforts and have options for community to volunteer and enjoy activities on-site.

The maintenance and development of the site could not have happened without the help of community volunteers.

Get in touch to have a chat about what volunteering might suit you.

We have plenty of variety to ensure a good match between volunteers and activities they engage in.

You'll be supported by an induction process with member leadership and guidance in activities.

Some volunteers join us for one-off activities or a short series. Others are with us for an extended period of time. Many who come along as volunteers end up becoming members.

What do we offer?

Come and try

Anyone is welcome to come along to activities to experience what we do and how people interact in deciding whether to join or not.

Some of the activities that work well for this include working bees on 1st and 3rd Saturday mornings, and weekly activities with the Herb Group on Tuesday mornings, Wednesdays and the site manager's days (see our newsletter for the latest timings).

Come on any of these days as ask anyone for the day's organiser.

The come and try approach extends to members bringing along friends who have expressed an interest in the garden. This is a great way to get a feel for the place as there is someone to explain things and do introductions.

Special projects

We run projects or activities we think may be of interest to the community.

We advertise these to members and community, and often have a vibrant and interesting group of members and volunteers coming along to help as a result.

Examples include:
Creating the mosaic on the pizza oven

Music events like Live in the Quarry

Musicians playing at events including the market.
Planting days on the quarry walls.

Centrelink-based volunteering

We have capacity for mutual obligation volunteers working on the same days as the site manager. Their contribution to much of our operations is huge, and we value them greatly.

Most would be members if they could, but unfortunately you can't do this type of volunteering at an organisation where you are a member.

Historically much of our older infrastructure was built with a large input from work for the dole participants – a Centrelink administered program.

Organisational volunteering

Some large organisations have incentives for their employees to contribute to the community. This can be as individuals and sometimes as teams. With a site as large and as busy as ours, there are always projects that can be undertaken by organisational volunteers.

What could you help with?

Guidance can be given for one-off volunteering. People wishing to volunteer over an extended period will get to do lots of different things over time.

Gardening and grounds maintenance in all their varied forms are always available.

Watering
Mulching
Turning compost
Weeding and tidying beds
Mowing lawns or brush cutting/whipper snipper
Fruit tree planting, pruning, harvesting
Helping with propagation and seedlings
Tidying the site
Landscaping.
Revegetation.

We have opportunities in specific skills or interests:

Caring for chooks.
Building maintenance. Internal and external.
Administration. Records, finances, grant applications.
Photography. Get creative with people or nature.
Cooking. For working bee lunches, making preserves.
Programs. Sprouts club, school & adult tours.
Workshops. Share your knowledge & passion.
Planning and running events. Be an organiser or a helper on the day.
Social media. Help with messaging, photography, content creation.
Member support. Helping less able, new members
Photography and videography for education and promotion
Website updates and maintenance