Meet some of our past volunteers

Flora Gibbons - Volunteering at Knox Combined Industries

In 1982 Flora Gibbons was looking for some volunteering opportunities in her local community as she was finishing full time work. She saw an advertisement in her local paper for volunteers with Scope (then called the Spastic Society) at a new centre that had opened in Wantirna.

Flora started volunteering with the swimming group, and after about 8 years, she decided that she needed something with less physical involvement. Flora moved into 'the workshop' and the pottery group.

Flora has seen many changes in 20 years!

The Knox 'workshop' is today called Knox Combined Industries (KCI) and plants and pottery have made way for new types of work - assembly, packaging and mailing services.

Flora still regularly volunteers her time on Wednesdays, and her tasks are numerous and varied. The KCI Manager at Scope said, "After 20 years, Flora can turn her hand to almost anything!"
Flora is an important and much loved member of the KCI Team.

Become a Supported Employment Services Volunteer today.

Phil Masterson - Volunteering at Day & Lifestyles Options Bendigo

Phil Masterson decided to volunteer because he had some time on his hands and he felt the need to 'put something back' into the community. He had been in the workforce for a long time before deciding to have a break. He was contemplating Aged Care or other areas where he felt he might be of some assistance to the community.

He found it work very rewarding. “Knowing that you're making a difference by working with or just spending time with people who need some extra assistance to go about their daily lives is very rewarding,” he said.

“In today's world, it's easy to forget how much pleasure there is in the simple things in life, but at Scope I am reminded of this in so many ways.”

As a volunteer, he has been very quickly accepted and appreciated by staff and clients alike. Actually, he didn’t think of himself as a volunteer, but more as a member of a very special community. “The folks at Scope are a very warm, friendly group of people,” he said.

One of his favourite activities is the hydro pool. He found that being in the water enabled many clients to experience a degree of physical mobility that they might not normally have. Not only is he able to experience their joy at having extra movement, but as a group he has had a lot of fun, and it has helped his health. “It is an excellent activity for my ageing bones,” he said.

Scope aims to enable people with disabilities to fully participate in the community, so there are lots of community-based activities. This was a real bonus for me, because there are lots of things I was going to do and never did. For example, over the past few years I have been going to attend Bendigo's Wool and Sheep Show. This year I finally got to go with a group from Scope.

Become a Day and Lifestyle Options Volunteer today.

Theo De Bie - Volunteering at Knox Day & Lifestyle Options

In the 1970s, when Tania was about 5 years old her parents organised a team of volunteers to assist with her mobility program.

Tillie De Bie was one of those volunteers, along with many others. Tillie was involved for about 4 years.

In 1994, Tillie's husband Theo saw an advertisement in the local paper looking for volunteers to assist with a Scope (then known as the Spastic society) swimming program at Boronia pool. Theo was assisting a young woman who looked familiar - he found out it was Tania!

In 2003 Theo (now semi retired) decided to ring Scope again. Theo found himself swimming with Tania again. Tania is now 39 years old.

It certainly is a small world…..