From Volunteer West

"Paraxit only immigrated to Australia late last year from Nepal, yet he is already contributing to the Australian community as a volunteer. 

Paraxit, who lives in Melbourne’s western suburbs, is helping refugees learn IT skills through volunteering at the New Hope Foundation. 

Like many volunteers Paraxit combines his volunteering with studying and looking for work. 

Like many Volunteer Centres across Victoria, Volunteer West works with hundreds of newly arrived migrants each year, like Paraxit, who are keen to volunteer as a way of learning more about the Australian community and as a way of giving their time and skills to their new country. 

To assist newly arrived migrants Volunteer West has developed Opening up Opportunities – a guide to volunteering in Australia. 

Download: Opening up opportunities

The guide provides up-to-date and relevant information about how to volunteer. 

It is well known that volunteering can assist people to:

• gain experience in the Australian community
• develop community knowledge and social connections
• build an understanding of the Australian work environment
• develop English language skills
• gain local referees
• network and make contacts for future employment opportunities. 

We have great pleasure in providing you with a copy of the guide.  We can also forward hard copies, so please let us know how many copies you would like. For more details please contact Cameron Glover or Judith Myers at Volunteer West on (03) 9687 7661