It was a delightful afternoon, as a vibrant group of volunteers gathered on Thursday 18 May to celebrate National Volunteers Week.

The event highlighted the importance of volunteers in our community and was a way to celebrate this vital and large number of our Community who give back in so many ways. The Shire kindly hosted the event at the Store and we thank all of their delegates for their time in organising and attending the event.

Our recent Deans Marsh Cottage Neighbourhood House Survey reported that from Cottage activities alone there was an input into the community of $85,000 worth of volunteer contributions in the 21/22 year.

This huge achievement, so thank you to everyone who has been involved in this success. This opportunity has been made possible because of the Deans Marsh Community Cottage Committee of Management, Deb Rohde, Jennifer McDonald, Helen Reid, Jo Zdybel, Luke Sayers and (formerly Sian Richards), who have all worked hard over the past 18 months to ensure our Neighbourhood House is a viable community service in our town. So a special thank you to them all for their efforts.

This Cottage Volunteer investment does not account for the work of volunteers in other groups around town including the CFA, Cricket Club, CAC, SPaRK, DM Primary School, Landcare, Grow Make Gather, CAN,  PSG, Streetscapes, PowerMaD, the Tennis Club, and so on…  It is clear if we combined all of these community contributions together we could safely estimate that over $1 million of volunteer investment hours have been given in Deans Marsh and district over the last year.

It is no wonder that members of other communities are often awe of Deans Marsh. Commenting on how special the community spirit is,and how much as a town we are constandly achieving. This reputation is something we should all be very proud of, and it all due to the dedication and passion from all of our community members who volunteer in so many varied ways.

May you take time to reflect on your contribution to our community during this important week recognising volunteers.

So as a collective – thank you! And if this has inspired you to volunteer in our Community please don’t hesitate to contact the Cottage. We can assist you in finiding a local group, activity or organisation where your skills can be utilised!