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Report
on the
1st
Australasian Retreat for Advanced Volunteer Management
The
first Australasian Retreat for Advanced Volunteer
Management was held at Olim's Hotel in Canberra
from March 30 - April 1, 2005.
The
47 people who attended included delegates from every
state and territory of Australia (with the exception
of Tasmania) as well as three participants from New
Zealand and one from Singapore. The retreat was led
by an expert Faculty made up of international volunteerism
expert Susan J Ellis and Australia's
two most well known volunteer management experts OzVPM
Director Andy Fryar and Martin
J Cowling (from People First - Total Solutions)
Delegates
were led through a variety of structured sessions
on topics as diverse as:
- The
values and philosophy of volunteerism
- Ethics
in volunteerism
-
Future Trends
- What's
the future of collaboration?
- What's
the future of volunteer program management?
- What's
the future of international exchange?
- What
skills do we need as VPM's both now and in the future?
Representatives
from AAVA and the School of Volunteer Management also
led sessions examining the future of Professional
Associations and VPM training.
| Retreat
delegates also participated in a final session
titled 'In the driver's seat', where they had
the opportunity to establish some action points
to be implemented after the completion of the
retreat.
At
this session retreat participants agreed overwhelmingly
to adopt the catchphrase - NOT JUST
50 / NOT JUST 3 - indicating that the
issues raised at the retreat should be carried
forward to others in the sector and not remain
wholly with the 50 delegates present or within
the confines of the retreats three day program. |
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Another
exciting and innovative approach utilised at the retreat
was the introduction of 'Support Circles',
where participants were teamed up with three other
delegates during four separate sessions throughout
the retreat and given the opportunity to work through
individual problems in a dynamic small group setting.
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Support
circles (left) are nothing new, and were actually
the brainchild of US volunteerism pioneer Ivan
Scheier during the 1980's and early 1990's.
Participants
at the retreat rated the opportunity to problem
solve in small groups very highly in their final
evaluations. |
Delegates
were also offered the opportunity to meet with faculty
members for a half hour 1:1 consultation throughout
the retreat where they could discuss and seek direction
from the faculty on issues related to their workplace,
career development or with problem solving.
Finally,
to round out the process, a social evening at Old
Parliament House (OHP) was held with great success.
Volunteers and staff of OPH arranged for delegates
to be shown through OHP, to participate in a very
interesting debate in the parliamentary chambers on
the subject of conscription - and they even arranged
for retreat delegates to be met and welcomed to OHP
by the Queen herself!
We
were thrilled with the success of the first ever retreat
for Advanced Volunteer Management and look forward
to arranging another similar event sometime during
2006
(L-R)
Retreat Faculty Martin J Cowling & Susan
Ellis, Singaporean guest Lam Moy Yin and Faculty
member Andy Fryar enjoying the retreat
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Left
- One on one consultations such as the one pictured
between NZ's Sybil Williams and Faculty member
And Fryar proved a very popular option amongst
retreat delegates
Below
- Old Parliament House looked a treat as retreat
delegates enjoyed an evening debating the conscription
Act from the mid 1960's. The Queen and Duke
were even waiting to meet the bus - can you
spot them on top of the steps leading to OHP
at left? |
Photo
1 - (l-r) Paula van Gelder (ACT), Richard Hancock
(Qld), Jeni Monks (NSW) and Sybil Williams (NZ)
Photo
2 - (l-r) Robyn Rouvray, AAVA President Peter Heyworth,
AAVA Secretary Donna Amos and Ann Surrell (all from
SA)
Photo
3 - (l-r) Tracy Johnstone (SA), Colleen Thom (Vic)
and Moyneen Curtis (Vic)
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