Royal Botanic Gardens - Volunteer Program

The Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney (RBGS) has a strong commitment to volunteers and sees their value in building links with the community as well as enabling the extension of its programs.

Volunteers are engaged in activities in many areas of the Gardens, with the first formal programs commencing in 1978/9 with the Sydney Volunteer Guides, followed by the Volunteer Mounting Program in the Herbarium in 1987.

Both these programs have a staff member to coordinate the volunteers' activities and to assist in their training and the supervision of their general duties. Originally both these programs were relatively small, but numbers have continued to grow with many recruits being drawn from members of the Friends of the Gardens.

Today there are approximately 200 volunteers throughout various sections of the Gardens at all three sites, as well as 135 volunteers regularly assisting the independent Friends organisation.

The International Year of Volunteers (IYV) in 2001 gave our organisation the opportunity to focus on the significant contribution volunteers make to our programs and our mission.

As well as performing regular duties, volunteers are useful as audience advocates. They represent the community we serve and care enough about our programs and sites to give us honest open feedback. Like any personnel in any organisation volunteers bring different personalities, skills and talents to the workplace and systems should be in place to accommodate their needs and clearly articulate their responsibilities.

In the International Year of Volunteers, the Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney (RGBS) took the opportunity to review its Volunteer Policy. This was a highly consultative process and input from RBGS management and staff, union representatives and volunteers was sought.

As a result, the new policy includes the needs of the Friends volunteers, promotes annual program reviews and provides a more streamlined process for addressing issues and putting forward suggestions for new initiatives.

IYV also saw the amalgamation of the two Volunteer Guide groups. They formed their own management committee and now run regular monthly meetings with guest speakers.

In acknowledgment of their services, all volunteers at RBGS were invited to a morning tea with the Gardens' Director at Government House in November. Volunteers who had served 10, 15 and 20 years were specially recognised.

In addition, three benches with commemorative plaques acknowledging IYV and the contribution made by volunteers to RBGS have been installed in some of the volunteers' favourite locations at the three Garden sites at Mount Annan, Mount Tomah and Sydney.

The picture above shows Volunteer Guides at Mount Tomah Botanic Garden, the cool climate garden of the RBGS. Pictured sipping champagne are (L to R): Tony Tree, Alison Scott, Carol Whyte, Dawne Dunlop, Ailsa Thompson, Caroline Chivers & Suzanne Bassett.

They are celebrating the installation of their IYV bench landscaped with intricate basalt stonework in the Plant Explorers walk. Since the opening of the Garden in 1987 our team of Volunteer Guides at Mount Tomah has provided walking tours for many thousands of visitors. They motivate and inspire people with their wonderful passion for plants.

Follow this link to find out how to become a Royal Botanic Gardens volunteer (opens in a new browser window)

For further information

Contact	:	Janelle Hatherly, Community Education Manager
Address	:	Royal Botanic Gardens
Phone	:	+61 2 9231 8068
Fax	:	+61 9251 4403