Celebrating National Volunteer Week: The Impact of Scouts SA Volunteers

It is National Volunteer Week, a week dedicated to shining a spotlight on our volunteers, acknowledging their hard work, and exploring why they give their time to do the incredible work they do.

Amanda is just one of those volunteers, dedicating her time across multiple roles, which include being a Scouts Australia Institute of Training Assessor, Trainer, a Kayak and Canoeing Guide, and our Branch Commissioner of Outdoor Adventure (OA) Training. Whether developing OA training programs, supporting members across the country with VET outcomes, or working with OA trainers (and much more), Amanda volunteers who time to support the members of Scouts SA.

Amanda has volunteered with Scouts for 19 years; after initially promising she would stop after a short time. “I started as a parent helper at Joeys and on committee. Signed up as a Leader when Joey Leader left and my youngest son was in Joeys. Told the Group Leader that I’d do the role for six weeks and see if I could fit it in my life.”

What made her stay?

“There was never any doubt that I would stay after my children left Scouts. I know deep in my soul that Scouts is what I am meant to be doing with my life. It is a constant in my life and the friendship I have made in Scouts are what have seen me manage some challenging times in my life.”

with her variety of roles to work around her personal commitments. “My roles are very flexible, fitting around my caring responsibilities and giving me a sense of purpose and value that I have missed since having to give up work,” Amanda says. “Best of all I get to go paddling in some amazing locations for a few hours or a few days (…) all while supporting youth from 5 years old to 25 years old.”

At the heart of it, volunteering for Scouts SA is about supporting our youth to be the best version of themselves. When asked for a proud volunteering moment, Amanda couldn’t choose. From helping a youth member who was afraid of the river to get into a kayak and have fun, training a variety of youth and seeing them improve and become confident in themselves, seeing a young member work day in and out to raise money to fulfil their dream of attending a Jamboree, to so many more.

Volunteering for Scouts is fulfilling, but also lifechanging, for your soul and the youth you support along the way. But you also learn personal skills and build yourself up along the way. Amanda has become formally qualified in multiple areas (Outdoor Leadership, Coordinating Volunteer Programs, etc.).

“We are exceptionally lucky to have free access to acquiring externally recognised qualifications,” says Amanda. But above all, “Leading a team of adults who are volunteers sharing the same goals and passion, has been the greatest skill I’ve learnt.”

It is important for volunteers and members work as one to achieve their goals, and as Amanda says – “A team that works as one, can achieve anything they put their mind to.”

If you have read this far, it goes without saying that volunteering with Scouts SA can be an incredible experience, but it’s so much more than that. “It’s a community with lots of amazing people (young and old) doing amazing things. I love meeting new people from all walks of life (and I’m an introvert) and I’m constantly blown away by how many wonderful people there are out there,” says Amanda. “As adults in Scouts I don’t think we fully realise the positive impact we have on youth members lives, their families and the other adults in Scouting.”

So, why volunteer with Scouts SA? Well, you never know when – “One small positive action can result in a large positive ripple that affects many people.” Well said Amanda, well said.