New manager shares highlights of volunteering with NINA

In June, Northern Illawarra Neighbour Aid (NINA) said farewell to former manager Sharon Gissane, who led the Helensburgh-based not-for-profit for more than three years.

Fiona Lawson – a familiar face to NINA’s clientele – has stepped into the manager role. Fiona started at the organisation in March 2020, first as the transport client service officer and later as the client intake officer and volunteer coordinator.

For Fiona, joining NINA at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, during the first week of New South Wales’s first lockdown, was somewhat tumultuous. But it wasn’t long until she felt at home in the organisation and found fulfilment working with NINA’s local client base.

“[Most rewarding is] seeing the clients enjoy themselves, especially when they get out,” Fiona said.

“They feel that they're independent and that they're getting out and enjoying themselves – that's the best thing.

“[I’m] just continuing on Sharon's great work that she did in the three years and still providing the services to the clients in the area and expanding the activities and the volunteers for the area. We really need to expand our volunteer database.”

Currently, more than 40 people regularly volunteer their time but more people are needed to help across NINA’s many services, which include weekly café club and group crafts activities, collective outings, assistance with shopping and medical appointments, individual social support and separate transport needs.

“Our major service is transports, individual transports and group outings. July's transports, we did 570 transports in the month,” Fiona said.

“It just makes them feel so independent and they wouldn't know what they would do without the service because it just helps them be that more independent and give the families, I suppose, a break, as well of spending more quality time with the family.

“And hours in social support – for the month, we did 674 social support hours in groups and, in the individual, we did 329 hours in social support and… that's 90 percent conducted by volunteers.

“The social support – people just say that it's great to be out. They get sick of looking at the four walls and they love getting out and going on our group outings.”

But it isn’t just the clients who enjoy their time with NINA; the volunteers often get just as much out of the experience, Fiona said.

“They enjoy the chats with the clients as well, listening to their stories and the history of the area.

“They feel valuable within themselves, that they're actually doing something for the community and giving back.”

If you have more than two hours to spare each week and have a first aid certificate and double vaccination status, you’re eligible to volunteer with NINA. To find out more, see here or visit the office at 18 Walker Street, Helensburgh.