Our volunteers work with CASA members on a one-to-one basis at all of our social events. Volunteers will be paired with a member and they will spend their time with that member during our event. This usually involves chatting and socialising with the member as well par-taking in activities like painting, bowling & craft making. Due to the nature of the one-to-one system we are always looking for extra volunteers as we generally have more members than volunteers which unfortunately can mean that some members will miss out on social activities due to not having a volunteer to pair them with. We have social events every month on Sunday from 2-6pm so there is not a huge time commitment involved in Volunteering with us. The minimum time people will have to do will just be those 4 hours once a month. If people would like the opportunity to volunteer more of their time than we can easily accommodate that as well. Volunteering with CASA will be very rewarding and beneficial experience.
Like many novice volunteers I started out wanting to make a difference, give something back, feel good about my place in life. Luckily, it is easy to find places for people with such special needs. I was introduced to people seeking friendship and social contact. Nobody can force anyone to be friends so in a way they were also volunteers. What did I learn? Caring is shared experience; it’s hard to say who is helping who; and you know it’s working when you’re still there
Martin. – More than Words can Say