It was such a joy to gather everyone together at Bramleigh Estate to celebrate National Volunteer Week. The celebration was a fabulous opportunity to acknowledge our volunteer’s generous contribution and thank them for the vital role they play each and every day, and for making our community stronger, especially during times of need, crisis or isolation.

Andrew Asten is a great believer in the importance and the impact of mission driven organisations in changing people's lives. The Chair of the Board expressed his admiration and gratitude to the hundreds of volunteers who give so much to their community.

“Doncare’s core business is changing lives every day. I have so much admiration and thankfulness for the work that all of you do as volunteers and our counsellors, and our staff who give so much support to people, especially those who are going through some of the toughest times of their lives when they walk through Doncare’s doors”.

Andrew Asten, Chair of the Board

Every year, Doncare nominates one or two volunteers who have made an outstanding contribution to the community, but this year we decided to recognise several volunteers who have gone above and beyond in assisting us through the COVID pandemic. Read more about Doncare’s Volunteer of the Year here

CEO, Gaby Thomson and Andrew Asten presented Service certificates to 40 volunteers to acknowledge their contribution to Doncare. We would like to salute Geraldine Bloom who has dedicated 25 years volunteering in the Social Support program, as well as Bob Akbarzadeh and Marlene Knight from the op shop program, and Debbie Wong from Social Support who all started volunteering in 2001. Rose Chong was also acknowledged for 15 years of service in Doncare’s opportunity shops.

This year's theme was "Reconnect.Recognise.Reimagine" and that is exactly what we did! Doncare is enormously proud of the work we do in the community and we just couldn't do what we do without the support of our volunteers.

Thank you to the fabulous SaSSing choir who serenaded our guests and to Mary-Anne and the team at Bramleigh Estate for hosting such a beautiful lunch.

Please join us in congratulating the following team members who also received certificates of service

Aileen O'Connell Op Shops

Barbara Britton Op Shops

Carol Harvey Social Support

Terri Thompson Op Shops

Hanne Blake Social Support

Lorraine Cahill Social Support

Marilyn Thompson Social Support

Delia Schokman Op Shops

Neil Harvey Social Support

Angela Tsimaras Op Shops

Bernadette D'Costa Op Shops

Denise White Op Shops

Donna Fung Op Shops

Fakhri Afshar Op Shops

Harry Erawan Social Support

Heather Lovell Clerical

Helen Angelaras Op Shops

Helen Jurgelait Social Support

Iga Zietara Op Shops

Jaimi Houston Op Shops

Jan Hunter Information and Emergency Relief

Judy Moore Social Support

Julie Loncaric Op Shops

Kathryn Tandy Clerical

Leone Carberry Op Shops

Lynne Lloyd Information and Emergency Relief

Maggie Falconer Social Support

Maria Hancock Op Shops

Ming Xiao Zhang Op Shops

Nilla Benham Op Shops

Oldrich Kozak Op Shops

Peter Brilliant Social Support

Robyn Fowler Information and Emergency Relief

Stephan Ciarapica Op Shops

Suzanne Picone Op Shops