VOLUNTEERS working in public health services around the Riverland returned to work this week after they were sidelined during the worst of the coronavirus pandemic.
Starting on Monday, many of the 356 volunteers across the region resumed their roles, including delivering meals, assisting with medical records, working at op shops and more.
Riverland Community Health Services volunteer co-ordinator Wendy Colls said most volunteers had been asked to stay home during the COVID-19 outbreak for safety reasons.
“We pretty much stopped the volunteers, mainly because of some of their ages,” she said.
“But now we have ramped a lot of them back up.
“When I rang them up the other day they were all so pleased to get back to it.
“They are very passionate about what they do.”
Ms Colls said extra safety precautions would be applied to various volunteer roles.
“With home delivered meals… the volunteers will no longer be entering their homes,” Ms Colls said.
“They’ll just have that contact to know that they’re okay and let them know their meals are out the front.”
Regional service design and system improvement manager Pam Thomson said the work volunteers did equated to that of “a considerable amount of full-time staff”.
“It’s not until we start to punch out the numbers that we realise what the hours they contribute means to our services and client outcomes,” Ms Thomson said.
“Their contribution to the health and wellbeing of our consumers is just about immeasurable.
“We are enormously grateful for the work that they do.”
Ms Colls said the absence of volunteers had placed extra pressure on full-time staff.
“I know with home-delivered meals in Loxton, that’s taken four or six staff out for at least an hour every day to deliver the meals,” she said.
“The impact of our volunteers is massive, and we wouldn’t survive without them.”
Despite the hundreds of people volunteering in health services throughout the Riverland, Ms Colls said more volunteers are always needed.
“Even though we have all these volunteers, we still need more,” Ms Colls said.
“Services like the meal deliveries are ongoing, five days a week, every week, so we need people who can help do these things.”
Ms Thomson said significant work was put into ensuring volunteers are in the role that is right for them.
“We spend a lot of time with the volunteers sussing out what they want to do,” she said.
“It’s not a matter of telling people where to go, it’s about giving them a choice.”
Ms Colls said any amount of time that people could spend volunteering was appreciated.
“I think some people think that to be a volunteer they have to give so much, but we are grateful for an hour a week,” she said.
“It doesn’t have to be a big chunk of time. Someone delivering meals for an hour on a Friday is a great help.
“These people are giving up their time, so it’s about making sure they are doing something that they want to do.”
For more information on becoming a volunteer with a Riverland community health service, call the Berri Community Health Service on 8580 2500.