In the past week, it’s likely many western plains residents conducted volunteer work for the community and fittingly did so during National Volunteer Week which ended on May 26^th.

It will come as no surprise that to locals that according to the 'Heartbeat of Rural Australia Research Study' by the Foundation for Rural & Regional Renewal (FRRR), over half of all community organisations in regional, remote, and rural Australia employ no paid staff and are run primarily by volunteers.

Quite simply, many community groups could not survive without these wonderful people even more so in this challenging economic climate where costs, such as fuel and travel, are a burden on the volunteer.

In fact, a quarter (26%) of young people say they don’t volunteer due to financial reasons, while just over half (54%) of volunteers say they’ve incurred out-of-pocket expenses from volunteering.

While pitching in to lend a hand has always been part of regional life, a report released last week by Volunteering Australia claims that approximately a third of community organisations have either reduced volunteer hours, lost volunteers altogether to illness, isolation, relocation, or caring responsibilities.

CEO of Volunteering Australia, Mark Pearce said volunteering has always been about finding new and innovative ways of addressing challenging problems in community and it's certainly no different today.

“Volunteering opportunities are changing to meet community need, but they're also taking advantage of changes in technology. We're seeing, for example, that there's a substantial increase in the number of people who are volunteering online or remotely.” Mr Pearce said.

“In fact, online volunteering has increased around 21 percent. The ability for people to have more choice and flexibility in how they engage within their communities through volunteering is providing new opportunities for people to get involved.”

Some groups have reported that it has recently become more difficult to recruit new volunteers and the biggest concern is that current volunteers are getting older and looking to retire.

Mr Pearce said the National Strategy for Volunteering ten-year blueprint commences its establishment phase this year and aims to make volunteering more inclusive and accessible while reshaping the public’s perception of volunteering.

Released by Volunteering Australia in February of last year, the first action plans will be announced in June.

“The National Strategy speaks really powerfully to a volunteering ecosystem which is more inclusive, which celebrates diversity which gives choice and flexibility to volunteering, which meets the needs of community more broadly,” Mr Pearce said.

“Fundamental to that is highlighting and optimizing the volunteer experience. The National Strategy for volunteering provides us with a very clear blueprint on how volunteering can survive and thrive into the future."

 Volunteering Australia is encouraging all people who’ve thought about volunteering to take the leap and know there is ‘Something for Everyone.’