MEMBERS AREA

Join Us for the International Volunteers for Peace Annual General Meeting 2024/25!

Published on: 9 May 2025Category: Member Area

Dear Members,

We welcome you to join us at this year’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) for International Volunteers for Peace (IVP)! It’s a great chance to catch up, reflect on what we’ve achieved, and discuss what’s ahead.

Date: Saturday 17th May 2025

Time: 3:00 – 4:30pm AEST

Location: Goulburn Club, Suite 2/19 Market St, Goulburn NSW 2580

OR Online Zoom Meeting

Meeting ID: 736 647 0807
Passcode: 747330

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Meeting ID: 736 647 0807
Passcode: 747330

Find your local number: https://zoom.us/u/ac4PZdULdt

We will run a hybrid format, so you can join us in person or online—whatever works best for you! Just let us know how you’d like to attend by Wednesday 14th May.

Agenda

● Welcome and Acknowledgement of Country

● A quick recap of last year’s AGM

● Guest Speakers (Jackie Waugh – President, Goulburn Agricultural and Horticultural Show Committee, Chris Dunstan – Co Founder, International Volunteers for Peace)

● Nominations for Committee positions

● A look at what’s coming up for IVP

● Open discussion – your thoughts, ideas, and feedback!

● Any other business

Please raise agenda items and/or make nominations for Chair, Secretary, Treasurer or other Committee Members via email to secretary@ivp.org.au by Wednesday 7th May.

To RSVP or if you have any questions, just reach out to Ash Gould at secretary@ivp.org.au

Looking forward to seeing you there!

Best,

Rita Warleigh

Founder and Projects Officer

International Volunteers for Peace

Volunteering as a Cure for Loneliness ❤️‍🩹

Published on: 21 March 2025Category: Member Area
Volunteering: An Antidote to the Epidemic of Loneliness
April 9, 2025 @ 9:00AM EDT (UTC-4)
Loneliness is on the rise worldwide, with 25% more Americans feeling isolated today than before the pandemic. The World Health Organization has even recognized loneliness as a global public health concern, linking it to higher risks of depression, heart disease, and early death—comparable to the dangers of smoking or obesity. But there is hope: volunteering has emerged as a powerful, yet often overlooked, solution. Volunteers play an important role in bolstering social connections and adding to the safety net that helps people feel cared for. In delivering services and solutions to problems, they also provide a sense of optimism and hope and create a visible pathway for others to engage.

Join our upcoming webinar to discover expert insights and proven programs that have been developed to combat loneliness. Register now to learn how you adopt and scale these inspiring practices for your organization!
REGISTER FOR THE WEBINAR
About the Panelists
Casper Bo Danø, CEO of FriSe (Volunteer Centers and Peer Groups Denmark) specializes in social entrepreneurship and leadership. He promotes civil society and community engagement in Denmark, leading a network supporting 70 local volunteer centers. His role includes strategic direction, policy development, and innovative tech solutions.
Lejla Šehić Relić is the founder and CEO of the organization for social development DKolektiv and leads the National Volunteer Development Centre. She is also the President of the Center for European Volunteering (CEV). Specializing in social innovation, Lejla has shaped policies and practices in Croatian and European civil society for over two decades.
Andrea Wigfield is Professor of Applied Social & Policy Research at Sheffield Hallam University, where she is Director of the Centre for Loneliness Studies and Co-director of the Campaign to End Loneliness. She is a leading researcher on loneliness and social isolation, specializing in the wider social determinants and implications through research, program evaluation, and evidence based policy and practice.
Nichole Cirillo is the Executive Director of IAVE – International Association for Volunteer Effort. Nichole has significant executive experience across environmental and social justice sectors and has led the engagement of a large network of global volunteers.

MEMBERS BLOGS

Mile High in Mongolia: a workcamp story

Published on: 10 May 2016Category: Stories

by Monica Kampfer

Attending a work camp near Ulaanbaatar gave Monica Kampfer a chance to help Mongolia’s orphans and experience the nomadic lifestyle.

After spending a day sightseeing in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia’s polluted and overcrowded capital, it was a relief to arrive at the camp. The campsite at Buhug was in a very remote and beautiful location, surrounded by green hills and blue sky.

The children gave us a warm welcome and the more outgoing ones wanted to talk to us straight away. They were from the government-run orphanage. During the summer the orphans stay in two summer camps. This one is a vegetable farm and houses 150 children aged from eight to 18. It grows food for the kids to eat in the winter.

Getting to know the sea turtle: a workcamp story from Mexico

Published on: 9 May 2016Category: Stories

By Jade Herriman

“For the animal shall not be measured by man. In a world older and more complete than ours, they move finished and complete, gifted with extensions of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we shall never hear. They are not brethren, they are not underlings, they are other nations caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendour and travail of the earth” – Henry Beston