Volunteering

Yalari's growth and community spirit owes a lot to our passionate and dedicated team of volunteers.

BRIONY BENJAMIN Yalari Tutor

"At the start of 2020 I began doing some volunteer tutoring with the Kambala Yalari students. However it wasn’t long before Covid struck and meant I could no longer visit the school. Rather than stopping tutoring all together, we instead began some zoom tutoring. It was an interesting experience at first, trying to do maths homework via zoom was a little difficult. Because of the zoom restrictions I focussed just on one student - Taylor. Taylor would hold up the textbook, I’d screen shot the page and work out what question she was working on. Once we got a bit of a system going, we hit our stride. With many of the subjects having online learning portals, this also made it a lot easier.

Returning to see Taylor and the other lovely Yalari students at Kambala in real life, has been great. It’s been impressive to see the huge development in Taylor’s reading, writing and mathematics in such a small space of time. I’ve been blown away by her progress. Full credit to her school teachers and tutors. It’s been lovely to be a very small part of this development and I look forward to watching all the girls continue to develop their skills and confidence. "

Thank you to everyone helping me get a good education. I am so happy that I can go to a school like Kambala and receive so many opportunities. I hope to make my family proud and go to university when I finish school.

Thank you.

Taylor Hammond is a student at Kambala. Her Yalari journey is made possible by the generosity of Jenny & John Hall.

IMAGE: INAUGURAL YALARI GIVING DAY - VOLUNTEERS

The landscape of Yalari volunteering was different in 2020 due to COVID-19 related restrictions, however volunteers from all walks of life and professions continued to generously donate their time and expertise to further Yalari’s work and to help our students be the best they can be.

We continue to work to ensure that both Yalari and our volunteers mutually benefit from the involvement of volunteering. We are constantly looking for new ways to engage and involve our volunteers, so they can further enrich and support our programs. Yalari hopes to provide a relevant and engaging experience for them.

Thank you to all our wonderful volunteers who play a vital role in the ongoing success of Yalari’s programs and initiatives.

2020 Overview 200+ 6,500+

Active Volunteers Volunteer hours

Student Tutoring: There were many generous people across the country who gave their time to tutor Yalari students. Tutoring involves supporting the student, or group of students, to develop their skills and understanding of a particular subject. Yalari tutors provide expertise, experience and encouragement as they assist the student to identify issues, to problem solve and develop new skills.

Yalari Fundraising Dinners: In 2020, Yalari Dinners were postponed due to the COVID-19 situation. We thank our Dinner Committee volunteers who continued to plan for any outcome, despite the uncertainty surrounding events.

Inaugural Yalari Giving Day: Volunteers from several key corporate partners, Yalari alumni and individuals, volunteered their time at Yalari's first ever Giving Day held in Brisbane.

Board and Advisory Councils: In 2020, we had seven board members, five of whom work on a voluntary basis alongside our Founding Director and Managing Director, offering their expertise to lead and guide Yalari’s strategic direction.

Members of the NSW Regional Council have continued to work to increase awareness and support of Yalari within New South Wales. The council operates under the control and direction of the board.

Yalari Alumni: The Yalari alumni are increasingly contributing to the organisation. Giving hundreds of hours in volunteer time, alumni assisted Yalari in running any events we were able to hold. They were also part of the fundraising organising committees and represented the organisation at speaking engagements throughout the year.