Peninsula Living shines a light on the crucial work local volunteers are doing behind the scenes to ensure safety, support and life saving services this Christmas.
There are many essential services which are run by, or heavily rely on, members of the Northern Beaches community volunteering their time to help people who need it most. Here, Peninsula Living, highlights just a few of these amazing services and the wonderful people volunteering this festive season.
Chris Lake – One Meal Northern Beaches
One Meal Northern Beaches is a meal service open to anyone in need.
The organisation delivers food relief through weekly community meals and a delivery program that gets fresh hampers and cooked meals directly to locals who have been referred by community groups and social service agencies.
Chris Lake has been volunteering for One Meal Northern Beaches for two years, and will be spending time over Christmas to support the community in need.
“In the past couple of years, the demand for food across our services has increased exponentially. We are now providing food to people across the Northern Beaches from Avalon to Manly to Frenchs Forest,” Chris tells Peninsula Living.
Chris says many in the community are surprised to learn that “there are youth going to school without any breakfast or lunch, or people sleeping in parks and in the sand dunes, or issues of domestic and family violence locally.”
“We are currently providing food for around 7,000 meals a week to people on the Northern Beaches,” he adds.
Christmas time will be a tough time for lots of at-risk, vulnerable people, Chris says.
“Our aim is to not only feed people but spend time with people who have no one to share Christmas with. So, we will be delivering Christmas hampers out to as many people as we can.
“We will also be providing our usual meal service at Gilbert Park in Manly on Christmas Day where people can receive ready-made meals and we can sit down and eat as a community together.”
Chris says there can be no more satisfying goal in life than feeding as many people as possible to build a community of which we can be proud.
John Dulieu – President of Warriewood SLSC
John has been volunteering at Warriewood Surf Life Saving Club for over six years and, though he volunteers all year round, he tells us how crucial the club’s services are around Christmas time.
“When you look at the drownings across the coast of Australia, we’ve [the Northern Beaches] got some of the most treacherous waters across New South Wales, and it’s important that we are there to support the public in terms of beach safety, and water safety,” John tells Peninsula Living.
There are 21 Surf Life Saving Clubs along the Northern Beaches, from Manly to Palm Beach, and John reveals that at Warriewood alone there will be over 200 volunteers helping out during the Christmas break.
John also points out that there are a lot more visitors travelling to the Northern Beaches for their summer break, with many unfamiliar with the water.
“A lot of people arrive thinking that they’re quite confident swimmers, that they can tackle the surf. But it doesn’t really take much for them to get caught in a rip or a bit of strong current, then they will start to panic,” he explains.
While John and other surf lifesavers are always ready to rescue people in need, they put a huge focus on preventing Christmas fun turning into a Christmas nightmare. This includes educating swimmers and instructing beachgoers to swim between the flags provided for their safety.
John also gives credit to the many volunteers who work behind the scenes, including the trainers who make sure volunteers have all the gear and knowledge to successfully protect the community.
“We’ve got at least eight trainers who volunteer their time all weekend and during weeknights to actually train these volunteers up, so trainers themselves can put in excess of 60 volunteer hours in and don’t even hit the beach,” he says.
Crisis support – Lifeline Northern Beaches
At Lifeline Northern Beaches, they are supported by over 600 volunteers who make the organisation’s crucial services possible.
Lifeline has many volunteer roles, including telephone crisis supporter, administration, finance, marketing and communications, retail worker, warehouse and logistics, events and support services.
Peninsula Living spoke with a volunteer crisis supporter, who said that Christmas time can be very lonely for many people in the community.
The volunteer, whose name will remain confidential, has been offering their services for six years and started volunteering to give back to the community.
“I think that the holidays, or any special occasions throughout the year, can really intensify feelings for our callers. Whether it be isolation and, in particular, disconnection,” the crisis supporter said.
“Sometimes it can intensify feelings of grief and loss and be a painful reminder of what we no longer have.”
Each Lifeline crisis supporter has gone through training to develop the techniques and skills to be able to support people over the phone, and many of them will be working on Christmas Day.
Lifeline is always looking for more volunteers, especially over the holidays, if you are interested in becoming a volunteer, please call (02) 9949-5522.
THOSE NEEDING SUPPORT THIS
CHRISTMAS CAN CONTACT
- Lifeline: for telephone crisis support call 13 11 14
- One Meal: for food help or volunteering enquiries, email
northernbeaches@onemeal.org.au - Surf Life Saving Northern Beaches: for further information, visit surflifesaving.net.au