Page 16 - YOU Magazine | Issue 2

Untapped potential
Volunteering is a great way for seniors and those living with disability to give back whilst making new connections. So what’s stopping more of us from signing up?
Julyne Ainsley is a person living with disability, but she is so much more.
A mother of four and a grandmother of 20, the 61-year-old is also a much-loved office worker with skills across grant writing, administration support, workshop facilitation and public speaking.
Julyne has an acquired brain injury brought about as a result of prolonged domestic violence. As a result, Julyne’s cognitive thinking has been impaired,
and she has short-term memory loss. In addition, she suffers from anxiety and stress from the injury.
She is also one of the increasing number of people with disability who are looking at ways to meaningfully participate in their local communities.
Despite battling low self-esteem and a lack of confidence, Julyne has now been utilising her skills through volunteer work for the past eight years.
“I volunteer about four to five hours a week. I am supported three days a week so I tend to do my volunteer work when I have Clair with me. She is my support worker,” she says.
Her history of service
began in 2003 when a friend suggested Julyne, who at the time had acquired Agoraphobia, complete a computer course
at Neighbourhood House,
a Victorian organisation that aims to bring community members together through
a range of social, educational and recreational activities.
The experience was transformative.
After committing years of service as a student and volunteer, she was asked to sit on the Duke Street Community House Board of Management and was recently named on the executive board
of peak body Neighbourhood Houses Victoria.
The act
Those involved in the movement say the act of volunteering – which peak organisations describe
as time given for the common good and without financial gain
– represents one of the primary mechanisms for moving seniors and people with disability from being passive recipients of service to one that is socially responsive.
As well as providing an entry point for engagement between people with disability, carers, service providers and the wider community, they say it also helps create opportunities to build relationships and foster social inclusion.
Volunteering also plays a significant role as a pathway to gainful employment, encouraging economic participation and building work skills.
They believe this to be significant given older people, or people with disability, face multiple barriers, such as discrimination, and are often excluded from the labour market.
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data shows a current labour force participation rate for people with disability of close to 30 percentage points lower than other Australians.
The numbers
Volunteering Australia (VA) says more than 5.8 million Australians engage in volunteering activities. This yields a 450 per cent return for every $1 invested.
According to the most recent ABS statistics, one in three adults with a disability or long-term
16 WINTER 2020 You