Diverse young volunteers

Young people from diverse backgrounds who are active volunteers are showcased in this new video from the Centre for Multicultural Youth. Watch Diverse young volunteers.

The Centre for Multicultural Youth (CMY) created this video to showcase young people from diverse backgrounds who are active volunteers, as well as the organisations they volunteer for.

It includes volunteers from Western Young People Independent Network (WYPIN), Multicultural Leaders in Sustainability (MLS), St John Ambulance Victoria and the Reach Foundation.

CMY were supported by a local partnership grant offered by the Youth Affairs Council of Victoria.

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Diverse young volunteers transcript

ANNA HUTCHENS
Coordinator, Western Young People Independent Network (WYPIN)

ANNA: WYPIN is an organisation which is run by young people to work on issues of racism and discrimination. It's a strong youth participation model; it's run by a committee of management, which are all young people from refugee migrant backgrounds, aged 15-25.

SHUKRIA ALEWI
Chairperson/Volunteer (7 years), WYPIN Committee of Management

SHUKRIA: We meet once every month, to discuss what projects are out there, what funding we should look for, where we should look for it.

ANNA: I think what we've found has worked well in recruitment have been having quite a few soft entry level points for young people so they can enter slowly, build some skills, capacity and then take on stronger leadership roles.

SHUKRIA: When I first started being a volunteer I had no idea what volunteering was all about. Especially as a newly arrived person, you get isolated and for me it was that, meeting people from diverse backgrounds and sharing, I felt like “oh my god, people actually pay attention to what I'm saying”.

AJIT SINGH
WYPIN Volunteer (3 years)

AJIT: Volunteering is very important for me to be able to develop my own personal skills and to be able to gain those abilities that you need when you go into industry as a worker where you have a lot more expectations of you.

SHUKRIA: Doing things in YPIN, going in and doing leadership, being a facilitator - it has taught me a lot.

ANNA: It's critical to our work that young people are around, involved, informing the work that we do, giving feedback, revising and having some really genuine input into our work.

KLER DOH
UCan2 Volunteer

KLER DOH: I was involved in MLS and we did a saving water program. Many young people were involved and we had training where we invited City West Water to talk about saving water. Also, we did a game with young people and we learned from each other.

Title: MLS – Multicultural Leaders in Sustainability

Through volunteering, I have more skills to organise a group, leader skills and problem solving skills. I'm more confident to communicate with young people and with different people.

I want these skills so I can deliver it to my community, the MLS community and also if I have an opportunity to work in multiculture, to deal with multicultural young people, so yeah, that is great for my future.

VAUGHN SMITH
State Cadet Officer, St John Ambulance Victoria

VAUGHN: St John volunteers and cadets are on duty at public events around Victoria. Plus we run a number of camps and activities like that which involve young people in personal development type skills.

One of our activities which we run each year is First Aid Competitions.

ELINA PURONPAA
St John Cadet/Volunteer

ELINA: We get a scenario and basically we just walk in, we talk to them, we try to help them. It's really good fun, good experience, good practice, because if there's a real situation, we know exactly what to do.

VAUGHN: Just because they're under eighteen, most of them, doesn't mean they can't do terrific first aid and we've had a number of young people save lives.

St John Ambulance provides a number of pathways particularly for people who are interested in health occupations.

DILLON PERERA
St John Cadet/Volunteer (7 years)

DILLON: Before, I wanted to be a mechanical engineer and then I came into St John and it influenced me to help the community, the people around me, so I decided to be a paramedic to help people.

BRENDAN TRAN
St John Corporal/Volunteer

BRENDAN: Well, I volunteered because, before I joined St John I was a very shy person, but then ever since I joined St John there were lots of people who were welcoming me and also including me in everything they do. Basically that just increased my confidence over time.

ELINA: In St John, I get to meet people with different personalities, different people with ethnic backgrounds as well. It's so great that we get along together and we have something to talk about, which is obviously St John, it's something we all love and we get to bond over that.

VAUGHN: It's critical that we have people from diverse backgrounds in St John, because we are dealing with a diverse range of people in terms of public duties and first aid.

SASHA LAWRENCE
Reach Foundation Volunteer/Employee

SASHA: My name is Sasha and I have volunteered for the Reach Foundation – I started when I was 15.

Eventually though, in volunteering for such a long period of time, I eventually gained employment with Reach.

When I was volunteering at first, a lot of my tasks were logistical help, and doing a lot of those little pieces of admin that you don't really know why you're doing it but it is helping someone down the line. Today, though, all of those little admin tasks and logistical jobs have given me the foundation to work in an environment where a lot of it is logistics and admin.

What kept me volunteering was really - I wasn't just doing something for someone else and that was making me feel good, but being in that environment, I was personally being inspired and it was getting me to think about what I wanted to do with my life and just gave me energy, I think, and it really invigorated me and gave me a lot of ideas.

So it's exciting that I started off coming in here just out of something that I love doing, and today I get paid to do something that I love doing, which I would not have been given that opportunity if I didn't start volunteering.

SHUKRIA: I know a lot of organisations have things for young people, they say things for young people, young people, but they don't have young people and having volunteers, giving young people a chance to be able to speak and share ideas.

SASHA: I think the benefits for organisations in having diverse young people volunteer is that they're going to be able to appeal to more people.

SHUKRIA: It is a big deal to young people because they feel like, oh you know they are listening, they want something from me, and feeling that wanting, that this organisation wants something from me; even knowing that the need and the want is there, it's just, it's a great feeling.

I can do that * DPCD Volunteer Portal

Diverse young volunteers

Diverse young volunteers transcript

Credits

Western Young People Independent Network (WYPIN)

St John Ambulance

Additional Interviewees