Quick-witted and resourceful you might have seen Phil previously sitting up the front at our reception. Three days a week Phil dedicates his time to volunteering at Volunteering Gold Coast as one of our handy receptionists. With the important role of being the first face, you see when you walk through our doors Phil takes his position very seriously and knows VGC inside-out. After four and half years as a volunteer receptionist, Phil is moving on to spend more time with his family and fit some travelling in; so as a goodbye let’s get to know the amazing Phil.
‘Good morning! Can I help you?’ That’s a phrase I’m sure Phil has used numerous times during his years at VGC. When asked what his favourite part about volunteering at VGC was, he said: “The great part about being in the role of receptionist is that you get to meet a lot of people every day. People coming in for interviews, seeking advice or needing help with our transport services, so it’s really nice to have that person to person contact.”
Phil’s reception role is a massive change from his last role working as a nurse at an aged care facility, but due to the death of his mother in an aged care facility there was no closure or escape from that painful loss, “I needed the proper closure away from work and I wanted to do something different, which is how I found myself volunteering at VGC.”
But like every new position or change in life brings new opportunities to learn, when asked what his favourite memory is before he leaves he was quick to answer that it was how much he had learnt in the role. “My job as a nurse certainly didn’t have anything to do with the majority of receptionist tasks, so learning new skills and becoming more confident especially in technology so to speak has been great to learn and acquire.” This leads to what advice he would give to others who are thinking about volunteering, “Do something you feel you can grow from and don’t volunteer for the sake of volunteering.” Phil places importance on choosing roles you are passionate about and that will drive you to be passionate about learning, “Volunteer if it interests you and that you can learn something from, as well as give you an opportunity to develop some skills and gain confidence to take with you.”
In terms of what he will be doing now with his extra free time, he proudly talks about his love for being comfortable at home and doing up the garden with Bunnings being his favourite place, “My family and I are big homebodies; we like our home and take a lot of pride looking after it. I love gardening so Bunnings is my favourite, we’re forever at Bunnings. I enjoy cooking and entertaining.” As well as entertaining family and friends Phil wants to go travelling again and touch up on his Japanese language but not surprisingly continue volunteering with VGC but through the Community Visitor Scheme, “I still want to continue volunteering, and CVS allows me to have freedom with my schedule yet still help those that need it.”
After discovering his favourite meal is Spaghetti and that he loves a good glass of wine Phil’s final advice for life is, “to be grateful for what we have and it’s a blessing that we live in this country. With everything going on lately overseas be grateful for every day so to speak.” A great way to look at life and a great final quote from our amazing Phil, we will most definitely miss seeing his face in the office every week, but look forward to his work with CVS and can’t wait to hear all his future travel stories.