Advocare Community Visitor Scheme volunteers celebrated

  • Advocare Community Visitor Scheme volunteers were acknowledged and thanked at International Volunteer Day breakfast held this morning
  • Recruitment of Community Visitor Scheme volunteers grew earlier this year during the COVID-19 pandemic
  • Program volunteers provided essential support to seniors in isolation 
  • To celebrate International Volunteer Day 2020, Advocare this morning hosted an International Volunteer Day Celebratory breakfast attended by Volunteering Minister Mick Murray and more than 30 volunteers from Advocare’s Community Visitor Scheme at Crown Perth.

    The Community Visitor Scheme recruits volunteers to visit seniors in residential aged care or in their homes. The scheme is particularly important for seniors who may be experiencing social isolation due to living without family or friends close by.

    Advocare’s Community Visitor Scheme is one of the few volunteer programs in Western Australia that expanded by recruiting even more volunteers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

    While face-to-face visits could not take place during the early stages of the pandemic, the volunteers kept up contact with their clients via regular telephone calls.

    During the pandemic Advocare’s new volunteers included people of all ages from students right through to retired people, some of a similar age to their clients.

    Anyone who would like to volunteer with the Community Visitor Scheme can email [email protected] or call (08) 9479 7566.

    As stated by Volunteering Minister Mick Murray:

    “While many volunteer programs were unfortunately forced to place activities on hold earlier this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Advocare were able to recruit additional volunteers and continue providing the Community Visitor Scheme to support seniors throughout the pandemic.

    “I know from hearing from seniors themselves that the calls they received from Advocare volunteers while in isolation earlier this year provided invaluable support and enabled them to maintain social connection during a very difficult time.

    “Thank you so much to all the program’s volunteers for your incredible work supporting WA seniors through unprecedented times – and it was great to celebrate with you all this morning.”

    As stated by Advocare Acting CEO Justine Martyr:

    “Our Community Visitor Scheme has gone from strength to strength this year introducing some innovations since visitor restrictions were introduced in residential aged care at the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak in WA.

    “Up to 100 Advocare volunteers have helped to keep older people receiving aged care services socially connected by writing letters, making telephone calls and, when permitted, by making visits in person both to residential aged care facilities and in their home.

    “We are so proud of our volunteers who were determined to keep up contact with isolated older people and make sure they stayed connected and felt supported.”

    /Public Release. View in full here.