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Thousands of volunteers supporting education of children in need

Media releases

06 May 2016

More than 8,700 volunteers are being recognised by The Smith Family during this year’s National Volunteer Week (9-15 May), for their valuable contribution in providing thousands of disadvantaged children with support during their education.

The CEO of Australia’s largest children’s education charity, Dr Lisa O’Brien said The Smith Family provided long-term educational support to 34,000 highly disadvantaged children and young people across every state and territory and volunteers were integral to delivering this much-needed support.

“Generous volunteers donated an estimated 516,700 hours of service to The Smith Family last year, with around 5,000 volunteers directly supporting disadvantaged students as trained mentors, tutors and reading buddy supervisors,” Dr O’Brien said.

“Our volunteers choose to support The Smith Family knowing they can make a positive and lifelong impact on the lives of young people and their families.

“In the last year we grew our volunteer base by 10 percent, despite 2015 ABS data showing a national decline in volunteering numbers for the first time in 20 years, largely due to time pressures.

“In addition, 94 percent of surveyed volunteers said they would talk positively to family, friends and colleagues about their volunteering experience at The Smith Family.

“This is the appeal of the work we are undertaking in some of Australia’s poorest communities – helping children of all ages to succeed at school and create better futures for themselves.

“I sincerely thank each and every one of our volunteers donating their time, talent and expertise to ensure we’re able to continue to provide critical education support to more than 124,000 disadvantaged children and their families. We couldn’t do it without you.”

Dr O’Brien also acknowledged the tremendous volunteering and fundraising efforts of more than 16,000 members of the VIEW Clubs of Australia.

“I thank all VIEW members for your tireless efforts in advocating for and supporting the important work of The Smith Family,” Dr O’Brien said.

The Smith Family offers a diverse range of volunteering roles each year, including online student mentoring, helping a child with literacy and numeracy skills at its after school Learning Clubs, or providing vital administration support for the organisation’s learning support programs.

To find out more about volunteering and to view current opportunities click here.

National Volunteer Week 2016 runs from 9-15 May. The theme Give Happy, Live Happy celebrates that not only are volunteers helping make the lives of others happier, they too are happier as a result.

Media contacts:

Andrew Dickson | National Media Manager (National) - 0421 285 529 | andrew.dickson@thesmithfamily.com.au
Carla Horton | Senior Media Advisor (QLD & WA) - 0423 618 776 | carla.horton@thesmithfamily.com.au
Reid Jermyn | Media Advisor (VIC, SA & NT) - 0412 803 566 | reid.jermyn@thesmithfamily.com.au
Ben Chenoweth | Senior Media Advisor (NSW, ACT & TAS) - 0413 346 934 | ben.chenoweth@thesmithfamily.com.au

The Smith Family is a national children’s education charity that helps young Australians experiencing disadvantage to create better futures for themselves through harnessing the power of education. We partner with around 800 Australian schools and work with over 162,000 children and young people experiencing disadvantage access our education support programs to help them overcome . For more information, visit thesmithfamily.com.au