2005 Retreat Report
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? |
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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)
