Great Southern Volunteer Conference

Session Description 

10:00am-10:45am

Planning for the Future: Clubs & Community Groups with Kim Buttfield

Maximise your club/community group's potential with strategic planning expert Kim Buttfield. You will learn what strategic planning is, why your club/community group should have a strategic plan, who should be involved in the planning process, and the benefits of effective planning. Kim will discuss examples of best practice (and bad practice) strategic planning, providing the tools you need to start planning for your club/community group’s future.

11:15am-12:00pm

Event Management on a Budget with Michelle Dayman

Events can be costly, stressful and easy to put into the too-hard-basket. The good news is that with a little savvy planning and creativity, it is possible to run your events on the smell of an oily rag while still achieving great results for your club or community group (and making sure your vollies have a lot of fun doing it!)

Michelle will give a crash course in events management 101, explore how to think outside of the box with event planning to get the best bang for buck and provide handy hints for leveraging external support. 

11:15am-12:00pm

Risk Management & Assessment Planning with Christine Grogan

Are you unsure what strategies your club/community group should utilise to undertake risk management & assessment planning? Christine is here to help. You will learn what risk management and assessment planning is, why your community group/club should conduct risk management and assessment, and who should be involved in the process. Christine will also provide an introduction on key tools and language of risk management, and common categories of risk – including financial risk, member protection and reputational risk.

12:10pm-1:00pm

Marketing & Promotion with Tracey Bridges

If you are looking for ways to improve marketing and promotion activities within your club/community group, then this is the talk for you! This session will explore methods to engage with new members, improve relationships with current members, promote and launch events, and build long long-term marketing and promotional activities to align with your club/community group’s goals.

12:10pm-1:00pm

Mental Health Support for Members & Volunteers with Tracy Waddell

Having access to resources for mental health support can be of great benefit to your club/community group and its members. Join Tracy from WA Country Health Services, who will discuss:

• Mental Health First Aid – what it is, what it is not, and who it is for
• Local ACE Campaign– Ask, Communicate, Enlist
• Local free mental health service providers and
• Available Mental Health supports for sporting clubs and groups

2:00pm-2:45pm

Attracting & Retaining Members & Volunteers with Gilda Mercer

Organisations are finding it increasingly difficult to attract and retain paid staff, so what chance do you have gaining new volunteers and members? Successful recruitment and retention requires careful thought, planning and connection. Are you prepared for this major task, especially in a post-Covid environment?  Get ready to start thinking differently. 

2:50pm-3:40pm

Sponsorships & Beyond with Kim Buttfield and Russell Hare

Sourcing funding for your club/community group can be challenging. Join Russell and Kim for this informative session to maximise opportunities for funding at your club/community group.

Russell will provide insight into sponsorships from a business perspective.  You will learn what businesses are looking for when making a sponsorship deal, and how you can make your club/community group stand out from the rest.

Sponsorships are not the only way to source funding for your club/community group. Kim will explore a range of funding sources, some you may not have thought of, and will provide examples and practical strategies for you to implement at your club/community group.

2:50pm-3:40pm & 3:45pm-4:30pm

Creating an Inclusive Club – Aboriginal Inclusion, Disability Inclusion, Culturally & Linguistically Diverse Inclusion & LGBTQIA+ Inclusion

Expand your knowledge and ability to engage with people from diverse backgrounds in this community-led session.

Join Rob Cridge, a member of the Sailability program at Princess Royal Sailing Club, to learn how they have incorporated a successful and inclusive program for people living with a disability. Rob will discuss how your club/community group can encourage participation from people living with as disability.

Join Robbie Miniter OAM and Dr May Carter, who will discuss how your club can support and engage with the Aboriginal community.

Join Hazel Mitchell and Dimitie Cook, members of Albany Roller Derby League, who will discuss how their club has enhanced LGBTQIA+ inclusion and expression, and how your club can too.

Join Julia Valentin from Albany Migrant Resource Centre, who will discuss how your club can support and engage with Albany's culturally and linguistically diverse community. 

3:45pm-4:30pm

Grant Writing with Vicki Brown

Take your grant writing to the next level! Vicki will share her experience and knowledge on grant writing, and explore what grant assessors are looking for when reviewing a grant application. Although this is one of our last sessions for the day, Vicki promises an engaging and informative workshop that will not leave you half-asleep.

Speaker Biographies

Robbie Miniter OAM & Dr May Carter

Robbie is a Noongar Elder, born in Gnowangerup, where he lives with his wife and four daughters. Robbie is currently chairperson of the Gnowangerup Aboriginal Corporation Advisory group, and a representative for the South Coast Natural Resource Management landscape renewal project.

Robbie also worked for the Wirrpanda Foundation as an Aboriginal Sports Development Officer for over seven years, motivating and upskilling young Aboriginal men to take on leadership roles such as coaching.  Robbie is the recipient of numerous awards for his work in the community, including receiving the Medal of the Order of Australia for service to the Indigenous community of Western Australia.

Dr May Carter is a researcher, community enabler, and sustainability advocate, currently working with Robbie and Outdoors Great Southern as an Interpretation Officer, sharing her time between Denmark and Kalamunda. Dr Carter has worked in the recreation and community sector for almost forty years, and has post-graduate studies in social science and environmental management.

Gilda Mercer

Gilda Mercer was the Manager of Training and Sector Development for Volunteering WA for 7 years until recently when she took up a role in sector development, specifically around developing advocacy training. Being the “go-to” person in WA for volunteering for so many years, Gilda developed a reputation for providing quality training and personalised advice for an extremely wide variety of organisations and clubs. 

Christine Grogan

After a 30-year career in Local and State Government, Christine now works with businesses and not-for-profits in the Great Southern region as an independent consultant though her business ‘Christine Grogan Project Management Services’, which she founded in 2017.

Christine offers expertise in governance, strategic planning, business and project development, and risk assessment and management planning. Christine is a passionate supporter of small business and the not-for-profit sector, and believes they are the backbone of our communities.

Kim Buttfield

Kim has been an Albany local for over 20 years. Through her business ‘Kim Buttfield Consulting’, Kim is dedicated to supporting sport, recreation and community groups to improve their management practices, so they can spend more time doing what they love. Kim offers over 25 years’ experience in the community and sport sector, working across not-for-profit governance, club planning, volunteers support, funding, and community management.  Kim has seen firsthand how rural sporting clubs, community groups, and the people who make up these clubs, positively influence regional communities.

Tracey Bridges

Tracey specialises in process design, problem solving and customer engagement. Having worked in start-up, corporate and not-for-profit, she has a wide range of skills and experiences that she builds her workshops on. Outside her work life, you can find Tracey appreciating strong cups of tea and being dragged down the beach by her Great Dane, Lucy. 

Tracy Waddell

Tracy works for WA Country Health Service as a Population Health Officer. Tracy is an experienced Mental Health First Aid Instructor and a registered health promotion practitioner, with International Union for Health Promotion Education. Through her work, Tracy aims to provide clubs and community groups in the Great Southern region, with the tools they need to create a safe and welcoming environment for their members and volunteers. 

Hazel Mitchell & Dimitie Cook

Hazel is a coach and executive member of Albany Roller Derby League (ARDL).  Hazel has been a member of ARDL for over 7 years and has seen the importance of developments around inclusion and diversity from across the league. Hazel has represented Albany at International roller derby tournaments and coaches the ‘Skate Like a Girl’ group this season.  When she is not at roller derby Hazel is studying to become a nurse.

Dimitie Cook is a passionate advocate for equality and social justice. She has seen firsthand how inclusion is key to sporting participation and retainment of athletes and volunteers. Dimitie works in mental health and love her dog Bandit.

Robert Cridge

Canadian born in 1968, Rob moved to Australia in 1992 and was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 1995. In 2014, Rob sailed for the first time; 9 weeks later, he was in Halifax Canada competing with 2 other sailors living with disability in the first qualification round to get to the Rio Paralympics. Although Rob did not make the Paralympics, it started his love of sailing. In 2016, Rob joined the Princess Royal Sailing Club and started participating in the Sailability program as both a participant and a volunteer. Rob joined Sailability to improve his own sailing skills, to teach other people living with disabilities how to sail, and continue to work towards his goal to compete in the para sailing world titles.

Vicki Brown  

With over 25 years experiences writing successful grants and sitting on grant assessment panels, Vicki has become one of Albany’s go to experts on all things grant writing. Vicki has lived in Albany for over 15 years, and has been actively involved in the Albany community throughout her professional career and as a volunteer. Vicki has gained extensive knowledge on grant writing as a manager of not-for-profit organisations, business advisor and project manager, and through her volunteer work, where she has chaired the board of numerous organisations including – Bendigo Bank and Great Southern Treasures.

Michelle Dayman

Michelle is the event coordinator for Variety WA and has over 15 years experience in end-to-end event management, from major community festivals to intimate high end experiences and unique community activations in both Albany and Perth. 

With experience spanning both Local and State Government and Not For Profit, she has honed the craft of creating memorable moments, on a shoestring that truly represent the heart of of an organisation and resonate with attendees.