Ipswich Hospital Foundation volunteers collectively lend a whopping 17,000 hours of their time to the local community, meaning they’re worth half a million dollars annually.

Ask anybody they’ve assisted however – whether it’s in a hospital or community environment, and they’ll probably tell you that their assistance is priceless.

Celebrating the value of their volunteers, the Ipswich Hospital Foundation hosted a lunch at Bundamba TAFE’s Miner’s Right Restaurant, where hardworking volunteers were treated to meals, raffle prizes and the chance to meet other people they don’t normally work alongside.
Ipswich Hospital Foundation volunteers work across a variety of areas within our community.

Hospital volunteers can partake in a variety of jobs like meeting and greeting patients, to working in the Children’s Ward, with parents in theatre, in the Special Care Nursery or assisting patients during recovery and rehabilitation.

Community Volunteers usually work on a more casual basis and work at events like the Park2Park or Ipswich 100 through to gift wrapping at Christmas time. Kendel Johnson, IHF community based volunteer said she was looking for a volunteering job and found the Ipswich Hospital Foundation aligned with her on a personal level.

“I was looking for an organisation to lend my time to when I stumbled across the Ipswich Hospital Foundation,” she said.

“Especially having kids that have been in hospital before, I wanted to help.”

As a business owner, Kendel volunteers sporadically at events like Park2Park alongside retail worker, Karron Carney who said she feels best when helping others.

“I find it’s good for my mental health,” Karron said.

For retirees like Chris Ayers however, it’s the perfect opportunity to try something new in a field they’ve never worked in before.
Volunteering at the Ipswich Showgrounds Caravan Park, Mr Ayers said its like working in tourism – a field he was always interested in working in professionally.

“My duties mainly include collecting money, making sure people settle in properly, giving them codes for access to parts of the park and giving them information about what’s available in Ipswich,” he said.

“Visitors come from all over the place, a lot of people are visiting family members in hospital, some come from interstate and we’ve had a few from overseas which is interesting.”

“Meeting and greeting is my favourite part.. I was asked to be a volunteer and I think it’s a good way to meet new people, I’ve been doing it for fifteen months now.”

If you think you’ve got what it takes to be a volunteer for the Ipswich Hospital Foundation in 2019, visit www.ihfoundation.org.au/community-volunteering/.

Community volunteers Chris Ayers, Karron Carney and Kendel Johnson at the Ipswich Hospital Foundation’s 2018 Volunteer Christmas Luncheon.