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CREATIVE VOLUNTEERING - NO LIMITS Unprecedented training offer for regional volunteers 18 March 2003 *** PLEASE NOTE *** If you a volunteer in a community-based arts organisation in regional New South Wales, a fantastic opportunity is about to come your way. Anyone who volunteers in an arts network, performing arts centre, gallery, museum, arts council or any group which organises events or festivals or presents touring shows, or which is involved in heritage work such as a local historical society, heritage site committee, historic building committee, or National Trust branch, will be able to participate in the Regional Arts Australia Creative Volunteering — No Limits workshops set to roll out in New South Wales from this May — at an incredibly low cost. Creative Volunteering is about rewarding the enormous work done by the thousands of volunteers who keep our regional arts and cultural organisations afloat. For the first time ever in Australia, regional volunteers will have access to a nationally recognised training program which will both increase their skills and resources and formally acknowledge the value of their work. The workshops will be hands-on, practical and directed to the specific issues and needs of volunteer-run organisations, and participants will be eligible for a Statement of Attainment which will count as credit towards other recognised vocational training and qualifications. Creative Volunteering represents a tremendous commitment to the regional arts sector by the Department of Family and Community Services and the Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, who are jointly funding the program. And it’s training on an unprecedented scale. In NSW, a total of 144 one day workshops will be managed and delivered in a partnership between Regional Arts NSW and Community Cultural Development NSW between May 2003 and April 2004. Each workshop will be offered in two locations in most regions. But the best news is that the workshops are being offered at an extremely cheap price. At just $25 per day, it really is an opportunity too good to miss out on. The course includes six one-day workshops: Carry Out Business Planning (Core) Network Within Communities (Core) Undertake Marketing (Core) Develop Funds And Resources (Core) Plan And Program Events (Elective) Work With Collections (Elective) Participants can choose to complete the whole course, or attend any one individual workshop. Those who complete the four core workshops plus one elective will gain a Statement of Attainment. Regional Arts NSW and CCD NSW have developed a unique approach to the delivery of the Creative Volunteering courses in New South Wales. Both are keen to see that the project contributes to the development of sustainable volunteer and training infrastructure in the regions. Rather than having a trainer ‘parachuting in’ and then disappearing, the focus will be on developing trainer skills in the regions. As Scott O’Hara, CEO of CCD NSW explains, 'We aren’t using a travelling roadshow method, where a bunch of city-based experts might tour the state to run the training. Instead, we are identifying local trainers in each of the thirteen NSW regions and bringing them to Sydney to orientate them to the material and ensure an even standard of training across the state. These local people will then not only deliver the training in their region, but continue to be available as an ongoing skilled resource.” The NSW Regional Arts Development Officers are being consulted
to ensure that local knowledge of locations and venues, as well
as tutors, goes in to decisions about how best to deliver the course
in each region. It’s all about building capacity in the regions
to potentially continue the program beyond its completion. The 2003 workshops will be held in:
To be the first to receive an invitation to enrol in the Creative Volunteering workshops when they come to your area, subscribe to the Regional Arts NSW e-Bulletin (if you haven’t already) or join the Creative Volunteering priority mailing list by sending an email with that subject to suzanne@ccdnsw.org. If you don’t have an email address you may join the postal
list. Creative Volunteering — No Limits
is an initiative of Regional Arts Australia funded by the Commonwealth
Government through the Department of Family and Community Services
and the Department of Communications, Information Technology and
the Arts. |