Greenlight is a Learner Driver Mentor Program based at Goodwood Community Centre. The program is government funded and since March 2010 has provided a car and a mentor to those people that live in the northern suburbs who do not have access to a car or a person to teach them to drive. The program currently has 8 mentors and approximately 40 people on the waiting list to be mentored. The program is looking for more volunteer mentors who to be eligible need to have had their full license for at least 2 years, are willing to provide a police check and have a spare hour now and then to help out. The participants need to show they live in the northern suburbs, they don’t have access to a car to practice in, and have had at least 2 professional lessons. For more information and to register your interest contact Greenlight here.

Peter Middleton from Volunteer Tasmania spoke to us about the organisation and what services it provides for volunteers, for not-for-profit organisations, and the community. He raised three main points: 1) supporting and facilitation pathways to volunteering for all members of the community; 2) providing consultancy, resources and information to volunteers; and 3) shaping the future of volunteering through leadership, research and promotion. In 2006, 131,000 Tasmanians volunteered, spending 18 million hours a year of their time, contributing $42 billion. The largest volunteering group are the sports.

Alison O’Neill from Variety Tasmania gave us a bit of a background on Variety and then told us about the great work they do. In 1927, 11 men in the entertainment industry had a social club called Variety. Then in 1928, a baby was abandoned in a local theatre. The men decided to raise some money to help her out, the success they had was a great surprise and they were able to help multiple children and the work of Variety began. The baby was eventually named Catherine and adopted out. Her grown children are now involved with Variety. There are 43 tents (chapters) in 13 countries and $US1.7 billion has been raised for children so far. Tasmania Variety began in 1998 and the mission is to empower sick, disadvantaged or special needs children by providing them with tangible help to improve their lives. Numerous active volunteers are registered and many events are held such as Run The Bridge, Variety Bash (the largest fundraising event), The Hobart City Council Carols By Candlelight (Variety is the charity of choice and raises $15,000), Race Days, Theatre Events, AFL Ladies Lunches and many more. All money raised in Tasmania, stays in Tasmania. She then went on and gave some specific examples of children they have helped, including providing iPads, wheelchairs, sending teenagers to a camp in Kakadu National Park and providing a mini bus.

We welcomed James Wood as our guest speaker from the Tasmanian Seed Safe Program. This program was initiated because one-fifth of plants are at risk of extinction and in Australia. The Seed Safe program allows plants to colonise in new areas and last thousands of years in storage. It started in Tasmania in 2005 and is a non-funded program but supported by the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens