Giving back is in Aqua Robins’ DNA. She’s worked in human services all her life – first as a social worker, then in management – and upon her retirement a year ago, she wanted to keep helping people in a volunteer capacity. “For the last 25 years of my career I was attempting to change the system from within, which became very frustrating,” admits Aqua, 67. “When I retired, I wanted to get back to interacting with people one-on-one so I could see the difference I was making.”
While Aqua knew she wanted to volunteer, she didn’t realise just how in demand she would be. After initially not hearing back from the first place she applied to, Aqua reached out to another organisation. And another. Then they all got back to her at once!
“That’s how I found myself taking my dog, Hugo, to visit residents at my local nursing home. It’s also how I started taking asylum seekers to healthcare appointments, and how I began styling disadvantaged women who’ve been out of the workforce to help improve their employability,” she explains.
Aqua’s busy volunteering schedule (with Delta Therapy Dogs, the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, and Dress for Success) is a sign of the labour shortage affecting volunteer organisations. Between 2019 and 2022, the number of formal volunteers declined by 1.86 million, according to research published by Volunteering Australia.
Bu hikaye The Australian Women's Weekly dergisinin June 2023 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Giriş Yap
Bu hikaye The Australian Women's Weekly dergisinin June 2023 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
Hitting a nerve
Regulating the vagus nerve with its links to depression, anxiety, arthritis and diabetes - could aid physical and mental wellbeing.
Take me to the river
With a slew of new schedules and excursions to explore, the latest river cruises promise to give you experiences and sights you won’t see on the ocean.
The last act
When family patriarch Tom Edwards passes away, his children must come together to build his coffin in four days, otherwise they will lose their inheritance. Can they put their sibling rivalry aside?
MEET RUSSIA'S BRAVEST WOMEN
When Alexei Navalny died in a brutal Arctic prison, Vladimir Putin thought he had triumphed over his most formidable opponent. Until three courageous women - Alexei's mother, wife and daughter - took up his fight for freedom.
The wines and lines mums
Once only associated with glamorous A-listers, cocaine is now prevalent with the soccer-mum set - as likely to be imbibed at a school fundraiser as a nightclub. The Weekly looks inside this illegal, addictive, rising trend.
Jenny Liddle-Bob.Lucy McDonald.Sasha Green - Why don't you know their names?
Indigenous women are being murdered at frightening rates, their deaths often left uninvestigated and widely unreported. Here The Weekly meets families who are battling grief and desperate for solutions.
Growing happiness
Through drought flood and heartbreak, Jenny Jennr's sunflowers bloom with hope, sunshine and joy
"Thank God we make each other laugh"
A shared sense of humour has seen Aussie comedy couple Harriet Dyer and Patrick Brammall conquer the world. But what does life look like when the cameras go down:
Winter baking with apples and pears
Celebrate the season of Australian apples and pears with these sweet bakes that will keep the midwinter blues away.
Budget dinner winners
Looking for some thrifty inspiration for weeknight dinners? Try our tasty line-up of low-cost recipes that are bound to please everyone at the table.
