Town Talk | Every positive deed helps our community

Occasionally, I have gone for a chat to share with you. At other times, I have visited one of our readers for a private cuppa.

I’ve noticed considerably more walkers than in my part of the city — young mothers pushing a pram and perhaps heading for a coffee shop; people who work in the CBD and obviously hurrying to their cars at the end of the day; and shoppers, of course. And I sometimes wonder how many of them appreciate and value this area, which is, in a sense, Shepparton’s residential birthplace.

Here, over various decades, many of the city’s oldest names lived, including Pick, Furphy, Ducat, McNeill, Gaylard, Halpin, Kittle, Harper, Lunn and Rigg. There were many more. I know of only one home still occupied by the original family; however, that might be my ignorance rather than fact. Of course, many of these homes have been renovated to allow a 21st-century lifestyle, but the changes have been made with great care and consideration for our streetscapes.

When I was a child, I had no interest in our heritage. I liked the new and shiny stuff. However, as I neared my teens, I developed a real love for History (with a capital H). It was the ‘big picture’ past of Australia and Britain. At that time, I considered Australia’s History to be short and less interesting than that of England. But, reading at night, under the bedclothes with a torch, I also became interested in the progress of Israel. Leon Uris wrote Exodus a little later, and I wanted to work in a kibbutz (preferably) or teach History (backup plan). My parents were less than interested in either of my plans. I should stay at home and get a ‘nice little job’. I believe they were relieved when, at 15 years of age, I met my future husband.

It is often, with maturity, we become more aware of the past and what is left of it. It is, with maturity, that we learn to value what we have — and realise how much we’ve lost; protecting it becomes vital.

Volunteering

Recent Town Talk stories about four of the women in Greater Shepparton and the work they do prompted me to research volunteering in Australia and around the world.

Australia has just under six million volunteers — about 5.897 million.

Our volunteer workforce is growing — but the number of hours worked is decreasing. In other words, we have more people working fewer hours; this is probably indicative of our lives becoming busier.

Sri Lanka is number one in the world, and Australia is fifth. People in the United Kingdom lead the world with charitable donations but don’t do well in volunteering. The United States interested me because its numbers have been decreasing for well over a decade.

These things are measured by the percentage of the population involved in volunteer work — and the Kiwis are ahead of us.

Greater Shepparton

I found an extensive list of local organisations needing volunteers, but it is too long to include here. However, if you are interested and are able to visit https://govolunteer.com.au/education-volunteering/in-shepparton, you will have plenty of choices, from visiting the elderly to education. Many are simply seeking people who enjoy a chat and can alleviate the loneliness of others. Or, if you are interested, you might consider helping out at Shepparton’s museum — one lady worked 50 hours last week.

A memory

While on this topic, I am reminded of a lady I met through a few phone calls some time ago. She had a wonderful story to tell about volunteering overseas. With her husband, she had spent many years with people in desperate need of help. I can’t remember all the countries, but I do remember they spent some time in The Congo — or the Democratic Republic of the Congo — if you can read that with a straight face.

I was filled with admiration for what they had achieved and knew you’d be interested. However, she didn’t want the story published, so I didn’t write it.

Recently, I read that anyone considering an overseas placement needed to be careful to choose an organisation not in the game to make a profit. But, there was also a suggestion that a non-government organisation was preferable to a government with an agenda.

A thought outside the box

It seems to me that we are likely to lose local volunteers because of their inability to do the police checks online. Is it ridiculous to imagine that there might be someone out there who would be prepared to help with this? Although it would be an unusual volunteering job, it would keep valuable people in the field.

Others are trying to get things changed by working through the politicians, but that’s going to be a long, hard slog — if at all possible. I’m guessing Victoria Police is unwilling to handle hundreds of sheets of paper and hopes everyone is computer-literate.

Anyway, perhaps this is your first client:

Thanks, Marnie, for your weekly column in the Shepp News. I look forward to reading it every Tuesday.

The comment today re the online registering for volunteering tasks really resonated with me.

Now retired from my primary school teaching role, l am finding it increasingly more and more difficult with the passing years to navigate myself around all the forms to be completed prior to being accepted for volunteering. As much as l enjoy my volunteering tasks and gaining much satisfaction from participating and aiding others, the stress and confusion of submitting yearly forms look likely to put a halt to my activities.

So stirred up by your fleeting, passing comment that l just had to offer my penny’s worth.

Thanks for listening. Yours in appreciation,

Maree

Thanks, Maree. I completely agree that this problem is caused by technology racing the starter’s gun. However, my comment was fleeting because I was completely out of space. Let’s blame Judi Hanlon, volunteer extraordinaire, for that. By the way, for those of you concerned about me losing a friend — that is not a real issue. Judi and I don’t see a lot of one another because we are both busy, but the friendship was concreted 30 years ago and doesn’t really need much maintenance. She was aware of what I was up to and wanted to say ‘no’ — but didn’t. We are currently seeking a suitable coffee date.

A time of balance?

It’s the equinox on Thursday/Friday — a time of balance.

With almost a quarter of the 21st century gone, we still have two horrific wars, with hundreds of thousands of people suffering. It would be reasonable to imagine that we had outgrown the need to force humanity to kill. Obviously not! The United Nations is a toothless tiger, being ignored at will.

Politically, the US is in a lose-lose situation. Whatever happens in its election, it is back to an uncertain future. According to the Democratic-leaning program I watch, 70 per cent of Americans think the country is on the wrong track; many don’t know how to vote. “It is,” one of the commentators said, “tribalism on steroids. The opposition has become the enemy.”

The UK has a conservative government that is more woke than wise — and is unlikely to survive.

Here, we have a well-intentioned but weakening government making the mistakes of amateurs. We must be careful in this country to avoid the hatred that is building in the States. People who disagree with us are not ‘the enemy’.

So, what about us? You and me? We can’t save the world.

Perhaps if we keep balance and fairness in mind and hope and love in our hearts, we will be doing what we came here to do. Every positive thought increases the positivity of the world. Every positive deed helps our community.

And that’s it for this week. I’m off to make some Cornish pasties. By the way, the pastry to make half a dozen pasties has doubled in price. The named brands have had a small increase, and the supermarket appears to have deleted the home brands altogether. The cost was $2.95, now it’s $6. I was interested to hear their boss say that the home brand items had helped keep their prices down — or not.

May it be easy, my friends.

Marnie

Email: towntalk@sheppnews.com.au

Letter: Town Talk. Shepparton News. P.O. Box 204. Shepparton 3631.

Phone: Send a text to 0418 962 507. (Note: text only. I will call you back if you wish.)