To help local charities continue the amazing work they do within the community, Lakelands Shopping Centre (WA), owned by ISPT, partnered with the Peel Volunteer Resource Centre to host a Volunteer and Community Expo.
The event, held during National Volunteer Week, featured more than 20 different organisations operating locally, all looking for volunteers.
“Lakelands is an amazing, growing community, full of incredible people. We wanted to give our customers the opportunity to discover groups and organisations operating right here in our community and help those groups recruit new volunteers.” said Amelie de Naeyer, Lakelands’ Community Marketing Coordinator.
The local library was also involved by hosting a ‘Step into Volunteering’ session the day prior to the event, to highlight the benefits of volunteering, not only for the community, but on individuals’ mental health as well.
The event took place on Thursday 20 May and was full of fun activities for the whole family, including a paper flower making activity and Persian dance workshop organised by the Peel Multicultural Association, stilt walkers roaming the centre, face painting, giant bubbles, live music and more.A ‘Volunteer Trail’ on the day encouraged people to visit all organisations, to find hidden letters spelling out a secret message. A randomly selected winner received a $100 gift card for themselves and $500 donated by Lakelands Shopping Centre on their behalf to their chosen local group, Peel Connect.
“We are happy to report that several organisations had volunteering signing up on the day. The centre was bustling, and it was a fantastic networking opportunity for all those local groups who will now be working together a lot more in the future. We’ve already had several expressions of interest coming in for us to repeat this event again next year”
COVID-19 has had a significant impact on organisations across Australia during the past 14 months. Not-for-profit organisations were not spared, with most losing a significant portion of their volunteers.
