What Does Volunteering Involve?

Volunteering is a great way to contribute to your community, meet people and develop new skills. If you are looking for somewhere to volunteer, WERS is a great place to be. The work lets you use your time and skills to make the world a better place. You will be making a big difference to the lives of our clients and a very practical contribution to the broader community.

Great people choose to work with WERS, contributing to the positive and friendly working environment. Volunteering with us involves a regular commitment to an agreed role that suits your availability, skills and experience. Volunteers need to become familiar with their rights and responsibilities to both clients and the organisation and be able to work reliably and cooperatively within a team.

There are a few steps to becoming a volunteer including an interview and being matched to a suitable role, followed by a satisfactory criminal history check and Working With Children Check.

Our volunteer opportunities include those who work directly with clients (such as coordinators, interviewers and foodbank workers) and those who support client services (such as finance, IT and office administration).

What Training is Offered?

CISVic offers nationally recognised training which allows our volunteers to skillfully assess and meet client needs.

The Community Support Worker (CSW) course requires a commitment of 50 hours over seven weeks. It includes weekly 2-hour online or face-to-face classes, working through the course guide, completing assessments and 14 hours of in-agency practical learning. A mentor will be provided to assist with training and coursework.

Participants who already have relevant qualifications or experience can apply for Recognition of Prior Learning so they can be fast-tracked through the process.

Once the participant has their CSW Certificate of Endorsement from CISVic they will serve a probationary period at WERS. During this time they receive guidance and assistance to enable them to carry out the role of a Community Support Worker.

Read more > CISVic CSW Volunteer Factsheet        CISVic CSW Course Factsheet

Your Role as a Community Support Worker at WERS may Include:

  • Interviewing people who need assistance
  • Determining, with reference to the WERS guidelines, the appropriate assistance to be provided to clients
  • Advocating on behalf of clients where needed
  • Sourcing information through a range of information databases and services
  • Providing practical assistance, through advocacy and negotiation, filling out forms, referring and making appointments with other services
  • Record-keeping and statistical recording
  • Working with others as a team supporting the aims and objectives of WERS
  • Keeping up-to-date with relevant community, state and national issues
  • Attending training sessions organised by or through the agency

Recruiting Now

General Volunteers

We are currently looking for volunteers to fill a number of roles supporting client services and office administration.

For further information please phone 9285 4801 or email manager@boxhillcis.org.au

Foodbank Officers

We are looking for volunteers to work as food distributors, ideally up to 3 days per week (even a single shift would be appreciated).

Duties include collecting, unpacking and storing food and other grocery items from Foodbank and other local suppliers. Also, making up food parcels for WERS clients. A current driver’s licence would be helpful, but not essential.

For further information please phone 9285 4801 or email manager@boxhillcis.org.au