There are opportunities for people in the community to volunteer with ECHO Youth and Family Services.
Our Hills Community Strengthening Initiative (HCSI) program in Cockatoo needs volunteers to help in a range of ways including:
- Mentor a primary school child, meeting on Thursday afternoons for around 22 weeks during the year to work on a project together. New mentors are needed in February each year and the program runs until November.
- Help prepare meals for our 2XL mentoring program which runs on Thursday evenings, 5-6 times each term.
- Assist at Kmotion After School Program, a fun-filled Thursday afternoon with 70-80 children (runs 5 or 6 weeks each term).
- Assist at Jitterbugs Playgroups on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday mornings.
There is also a need for volunteers to assist people at The Food Store each Monday, or if you have an interest in financial support we also have volunteers assisting our NILs staff in processing no interest loans.
Why volunteer? Here is a great explanation from one of our long-term volunteers:
“Most of us already provide all sorts of help to family members. But, despite these being the most important people in our lives, it doesn’t always give the sense of direction and purpose that our inner selves demand. Directly helping disadvantaged people is often beyond our personal resources but helping them as a volunteer for a welfare agency like ECHO can be the answer. I have been a volunteer for 18 years now and I can truly say that, from a personal sense of self-worth, it is the best thing that I could have done.”
If you are interested in becoming a volunteer, please email our office at [email protected] and tell us a little about yourself and which program(s) you are wanting to volunteer with. ECHO is committed to the safety of children in our programs, so all staff and volunteers must agree to abide by our Child Safe Policy.
If you have already been accepted as a volunteer, please click here to complete the registration form.