The personal benefits of volunteering are many and varied, and impact on different people in different ways.
Occasionally, the benefit to the volunteer is significant yet well deserved, as in the case of Blaze Pilgrim, a volunteer within City of Onkaparinga's Youth team, and a member of council's Volunteer Advisory Group (VAG).
Blaze joined the Onkaparinga Youth Enterprise Hub (OYEH) as a volunteer in February 2019, and it quickly became obvious she was keen to expand her knowledge and learn new skills.
She became a leading volunteer within the program, mentoring and supporting both participants and other volunteers while developing her own photography/video business.
Blaze later joined the VAG and also participated in workshops within the Volunteer Strategy for South Australia, where she became recognised as a confident public speaker and advocate for young people within the volunteer sector.
As a result of her new-found understanding of the volunteer sector, in late 2021 Blaze gained a paid role as the Youth into Volunteering Coordinator with Southern Volunteering.
When reflecting on her volunteering Blaze says she didn’t have any pre-conceived ideas.
“I honestly didn’t sign up with a big vision for my future, or even with a good understanding of what it was or what I wanted out of it," she said.
"I've gained so much by joining the OYEH Steering Committee and the Volunteer Advisory Group at Onkaparinga Council”.
Blaze recently applied to be a delegate at the 2023 Global Youth Volunteering Summit (GYVS) of the International Association for Volunteer Effort (IAVE) in Edmonton, Canada.
The summit is held every 10 years and receives applications from thousands of hopefuls seeking to represent young people in volunteering across the globe.
Blaze was not only accepted as a delegate, but due to her recent experiences she was included to help plan and host the event!
She is naturally delighted.
“Bearing in mind that when I started volunteering I didn’t know what a program support volunteer was, or what community development even looked like, volunteering for council has provided opportunities to developed my knowledge and get involved in experiences that allow me to dare to dream,” she said.
Blaze will travel abroad, for the first time ever, as one of 20 young people from across the globe selected to be on the GYVS advisory group to help IAVE run the Canadian summit.
"You never know where volunteering will take you," she says.
To learn more about volunteering opportunities at the City of Onkaparinga, visit council's website.