Care group open days a success
Hosting open days to increase awareness and involvement
Capacity building - LEP_23_033
The issue
Our Care groups are always looking for new volunteers. Over the years we have tried different methods of finding new volunteers with varying levels of success.
The solution
The first week of August each year is Landcare week and Local Government Week. As we work with Tweed Shire Council to support the Care groups on Council managed land we thought it would be a good opportunity to run some events.
We decided to partner with Pottsville Community Dunecare and Chillingham Landcare to trial open days at their sites.
Unfortunately it was unseasonably wet so we had to postpone our events to October and December. We rescheduled for dates to align with monthly community markets when we expected more community members to be in the area.
We set up a stall, had relevant resources and local native plants to give away and volunteers from the groups took community members of tours of their sites to show the work they undertake.
The impact
As a result of the Pottsville Community Dunecare open day in October- they now have six new regular volunteers!
The Chillingham Landcare Open Day was only held a couple of days ago - unfortunately we did not meet any potential new volunteers but we were able to increase community awareness of the volunteers activities.
At both open days it was interesting to realise that a lot of community members are looking for opportunities to volunteer but had not been aware of volunteering opportunities with Care groups.
Learnings
It is good to try different ways of engaging with our community and following new volunteers. Both the open days were successful but it seems to have been a more suitable option for Pottsville Community Dunecare where we were able to set upat a beach access point and engage with lots of passing beach goers.
Key facts
- Two open days
- Co- delivered with Care groups and Council
- Engaged with new community members
- Six new volunteers