issue 2 august 07

Creative Volunteering: case studies

Landcare Associations: Mount Alexander Shire
Art Is … Festival Horsham
Arts Roar: Launceston Tasmania
Evidence of requests for flexible Delivery
Plan and Program Events Tennant Creek - Northern Territory
Plan & Program Events Darwin - 1/4/07
Plan & Program Events Darwin - 19/11/06
Plan & Program Events Gumeracha - SA 29 /07/06
Plan and Program Events, Parachilna-SA, 01/04/07

Landcare Associations: Mount Alexander Shire

Is there an unmet need?

The legal responsibilities of being on a committee were a real concern for Landcare members in the Mount Alexander Shire. As a result of successfully applying for grants, local Landcare groups were finding themselves handling large sums of money. Committee members needed training in Governance issues associated with being on a committee and having to manage the administration of grants. Eleven Landcare Association members undertook Good Governance training in Castlemaine, Victoria on Sunday 27th May 2007. Receiving governance training for Landcare organisations is an identified need in this region.

Benefits

Outcomes

top of page

Art Is … Festival Horsham

Is there an unmet need?

Yes. A series of workshops was held in regional Victoria (Horsham) in order to skill up community members to coordinate and manage the community driven Art Is… art festival. The festival is currently in its 12th year. Prior to the CVNL workshops committee members were feeling burnt out and lacking in direction. Workshops were required to reinvigorate the committee and to provide them with the skills to run a successful and vibrant community arts festival. Workshops were conducted in Planning and Programming Events, Business Planning, Developing Funds and Resources, Marketing, Networking and Good Governance.

Benefits

Skills and Workshops

top of page

Arts Roar: Launceston Tasmania

Is there an unmet need?

There is a very real need on a national basis to provide accessible training for people with disabilities that are working in community organisations. The Creative Volunteering No Limits workshops (CVNL) provide clear information in an accessible format that can be adapted to the needs of such groups. In May 2006 Arts Roar Accessible Arts Project undertook the CVNL Business Planning workshop as part of the succession planning for the organisation.

Arts Roar is a community arts organisation run by and for people with intellectual and physical differences. It was established in 2002 by Interweave Arts Association in response to the fact that there were no art organisations in Launceston specifically for people with disabilities. Creative opportunities were extremely limited and people with disabilities were marginalised within the local community.

Arts Roar was set up with the understanding that it would eventually be managed and coordinated by people with disabilities. Specialised training was required so that this could occur. Arts Roar committee members had complex needs and required training that would take these needs into account. The CVNL workshop in Business Planning was undertaken by the committee in order to get a clearer understanding of the direction and aims of the organisation.

Benefits

Skills and Workshops

top of page

Evidence of requests for flexible Delivery

Volunteering QLD and QLD Arts Council have consulted with a range of indigenous peak body and stakeholders regarding delivery of the modules in Queensland within Indigenous communities. These have included:

These organizations have provided a range of advice about customizing delivery and assessment strategies for indigenous learners that reinforce our own learnings from other projects such as the indigenous submission writing project. Learnings include:

Evidence of Partnerships

Volunteering Queensland facilitated 6 of the CV workshops in Beaudesert and Boonah, two neighbouring communities, approximately 100 km south west of Brisbane. Local government in both towns were keen to use the workshops a part of a strategy to facilitate better communication between small community based organizations and all voluntary associations, sometimes called Grass-roots Associations (GRAs) and Council, and to assist these groups to form support and development networks and partnerships with each other both within and across the two shires. Volunteering QLD worked with both councils to develop a strategy in which the workshops could be utilized to map activities, skills and resources within the GRAs and encourage them to work together towards shared community outcomes.

Part of the strategy involved Volunteering Queensland facilitating Network within Communities as the final workshop as an opportunity to develop a permanent GRA Network/Interagency meeting. Learner's utilized the workshop to design:

The Grass Roots Association Network has since been hosted by Beaudesert Shire Council and has met to discuss and organize joint projects such as shared purchasing, learning exchanges, joint submissions for funding and creating community information packs about GRA activities for new community members.

Other outcomes emerging from the workshops have including:

Feedback demonstrating community outcomes of the workshops

Volunteering Queensland facilitated a Plan and Program Events Workshop in Miriamvale, a small community in Central QLD, as part of a suite of 6 workshops. The Youth Development Officer, employed by the Miriamvale Shire Council had invited three young women, aged approximately 15-17 to attend to work on a youth event planned for the shire. A range of other community members with their own events to plan also attended. One of these events was a "Celebrating Our Library" event. Workshops are facilitated so as to enable participant's to share and publish the ideas they are developing and as the group developing the Library Event outlined their plans, the young women became more and more engaged, contributing ideas for engaging young people in both the event and in ongoing involvement with the library. Eventually, their own event was abandoned as it 'could be finished later' in favour f detailed planning of the library event. The Miriamvale Librarian later reported to us that two of the young women joined the event committee, helped to manage the event and ensured that Library week had the largest youth attendance ever before seen in Miriamvale. The Youth Development Officer took me aside at the end of the workshop to express her amazement, "None of them have finished school" she said "and I'm not sure they've ever been in the library in their lives!"

top of page

Plan and Program Events Tennant Creek - Northern Territory

Evidence of any unmet need for particular groups: Indigenous/ CALD

This module was delivered to two different groups in Tennant Creek from 27th February to 3rd March 2006. The training was co-ordinated by Nyinkka Nyunyu, an Indigenous Cultural Centre based in Tennant Creek. The training was delivered by Ollie Black-an experienced trainer and with Carmel Batson, an Alice Springs based trainer who is experienced in delivery within the Indigenous Community in the Northern Territory. In a response to a request from Nyinkka Nyunyu, the trainers adapted the one day module to be delivered in a more flexible style over three days for one of the groups and two x 4 hr sessions for the other one.

Group 1 comprised 14 predominantly Indigenous young people:

This turned out to be a successful strategy. The trainers, where accompanied in the first training session by Charlie Trindall, an Indigenous man from Toowoomba, who was conducting a national scoping study on accessible delivery of training to regional and remote Indigenous communities for Regional Arts Australia.

The module was adapted in the following ways:

These strategies were very useful. The trainers were pleased to have 6 young students successfully complete this module.

Group 2: The second training session was with staff from Nyinkka Nyunyu and other local organisations who regularly hold events and who frequently collaborate on event planning with each other.

In response to a request from Nyinkka Nyunyu, this training was delivered over 2 days for 4 hrs each evening with all students successfully completing the module.

Workshops covering particular subject areas eg computing, project management, writing grants, presenting exhibitions, presenting a show etc?

a. For repeat workshops?
b. For other types of workshops such as longer duration?
c. Shorter duration?
d. Flexible delivery (e.g. online)?

top of page

Plan & Program Events Darwin - 1/4/07

Evidence of where successful partnerships have formed in the delivery of the workshops

Partnership: Between Darwin City Council-Youth Services and Corrugated Iron Youth Arts

Outcome: Participants undertook the workshop in the lead up to their involvement in the Youth Week Event - "The Landing"

Comments: This was an example of a CV Workshop being utilised so that the participants could gain skills in Planning and Programming for an actual event that they where going to be working on. It also demonstrates an example of a positive partnership between local government and a youth arts group

Feedback: Comments from the participants

top of page

Plan & Program Events Darwin - 19/11/06

Partnership

This workshop was held specifically in partnership between Arts NT and BMCA Board. The organisation had experienced a lot of change over the past two years with the departure of a long tem executive office (30+ years) and then a period of high staff turnover. This resulted in difficulties for the BMCA Board in managing the staff changes and operational issues associated with this and a lack of focus from the BMCA staff in their core business program (as a community art organisation and at that time a venue manager).

Arts NT suggested holding the Good Governance Workshop as a team building and professional development exercise between the BMCA's staff and Board, which was accepted by both groups. The workshop was held specifically for BMCA without any other participants and was attended by 11 people.

Outcomes

Participants were very happy to receive clarity about direction. Found the Workshop very beneficial

top of page

Plan & Program Events Gumeracha - SA 29 /07/06

Skills and workshops

Participants: Gumeracha Medieval Fair Management Committee

Planning: For the Inaugural Gumeracha Medieval Fair in May 2007

Outcome

Participants used the workshop to build on the research and planning that they had already undertaken. The group worked developing their checklist and the extensive discussion engaging all workshop participants and took their group far closer to their collective goal.

Comments

A practical example of how a community organisation used a CV Workshop to assist their group to plan an event. The group worked toward planning and implementing a festival. This group has a lot of passion to achieve higher goals. They would definitely love to hold more workshops, which they could use towards future Medieval Festivals. e.g. Develop Funds and Resources, Governance. I could see this group attracting many more individuals to be involved with the workshops and their event. The Medieval Festival wasn't in existent for the last couple of years but the Plan and Program Events Workshop has reignited moral and enthusiasm in regards to the running of this successful community event.

Participants Feedback

Just a quick note to let you know that we had a very successful workshop today with Tricia Walton - she was very good. We learnt and achieved a great deal - very practical and focused on our event.'

top of page

Plan and Program Events, Parachilna-SA, 01/04/07

Is there any unmet need?

For workshops to be conducted in particular areas e.g. remote/ very
remote?

Partnerships

Outback Area Trust and Local Progress Associations and Community development Boards.

Represenatives from:

Comments

This workshop received Remote Area Funding. Several of the participants travelled over 200 km to go to the workshop.

top of page

Back to main newsletter