Bellarine Community Support Register celebrates volunteers

THE Bellarine Community Support Register (BCSR) have recognised the efforts of a group of volunteers for their ongoing contribution to the community organisation during the last 12 months.

At their Annual General Meeting last month, a total of eight volunteers were cited for reaching milestones with the community support register, headlined by Irene McKenzie who achieved 15 years of service and Jennifer Gibbs and Rhonda Rotherham who were presented with certificates for five years of assistance.

Lyn Codd, Lynne Kidman, Maree Greenwood, Jenny Marshall and Leonie Saundry were also recognised, achieving the two-year milestone with the registry.

BCSR are a community volunteer organisation who maintain a confidential database of people’s information at the Bellarine Police Station, with the support of the Victoria Police.

The database holds contacts and information provided by residents and can be accessed only by police in a personal emergency to supports the safety and independence of vulnerable Bellarine residents.

According to office coordinator Denise Hibbins, the group have been humbled by the generosity and support of the Bellarine community who have assisted in keeping the organisation afloat.

“To those on the register and those who receive calls, you keep us relevant and provide us with meaningful volunteer work.

“Thank you for your trust in us. To those who provide monetary donations, please know that this goes towards our operational costs.

“We also acknowledge the support from Kings Funerals who have been our sponsors since BCSR inception.

“Pro Bono work that allows us to continue our operations in addition to the Victoria Police also includes Bill Mandley from Apogee IT and Steven Gray from Utilitise.

“Steven has offered to develop a new database for us to make operations easier in the event we have another event such as COVID whereby we had to very quickly adapt our working model and commence remote operations.”

BCSR also make care calls Monday to Friday (excluding public holidays) to those who would like a chat or just someone to check in to ensure that they are okay.

The organisation is currently working through new volunteer applications and invite those who would like to join the organisation to come forward.

A mandatory police check is needed before becoming a volunteer.

To learn more, visit https://bellarineregister.org.au/