Taronga National Volunteer Week Awards recognise the achievements of our volunteers who have gone above and beyond the call of duty in their commitment to our organisational vision and values.

In keeping with the 2011 National Volunteer Week theme: “Inspiring the Volunteer in You”, and Taronga’s organisational values BASIC, the theme for Taronga’s National Volunteer Week Awards for 2011 was “We're BASICallly inspired by the Volunteer in You!”

Below are our deserving winners for 2011!

Be supportive and enthusiastic

This award acknowledges volunteers who go above and beyond to support our people and show outstanding enthusiasm in the execution of their role.

Winner - Pam Clinch

Pam has been described by her colleagues as ‘the most supportive and enthusiastic volunteer that I have ever worked with.’  Pam’s enthusiasm is infectious and she boosts moral when she comes bounding in the door saying how excited she is about working at the zoo for the day.  Pam is extremely supportive of all the staff at the hospital, providing emotional support when the staff members are dealing with stressful and difficult situations with animals that may be seriously ill.  Pam willingly performs the most mundane of tasks – scrubbing hospital dens and disinfecting rehab yards until the areas are spotlessly clean.  She is just as eager and competent with administrative duties such as budgets and data processing and with her background as a lawyer, can turn her hand to many administrative tasks.   She performs all of these tasks with a high degree of professionalism and we are extremely grateful that Pam chooses to offer her assistance to Taronga Wildlife Hospital.

Highly Commended  - Ian Maynard

Ian Maynard

Ian volunteers at Media Relations. Even though his role is to process the hundreds of requests we get to support charities and schools, he does so much more to help us out. In attending to the external requests, Ian uses very good judgement and manages an important community interface for the zoo. Without prompting, he also identifies other things he can do to support Media Relations and zoo guest experiences. He attends to the incredibly busy media and public relations switchboard, effectively dealing with public inquiries and complaints and providing information and advice. On days when we have large media calls, we can always rely on Ian to host media, give out accurate and positive information and be a vital part of our team. Ian makes sure that he maintains his knowledge of zoo exhibits, animals and programs so that he can enhance the experience of visitors. Many times when we receive extremely short-notice requests for VIP of diplomatic zoo tours, we know we can count on Ian to host these as he is unfailingly knowledgeable, interesting and an excellent ambassador for Taronga Zoo.

A: Accept and take responsibility

This award recognises volunteers who go out of their way to accept and take responsibility which results in excellent customer service for our visitors and builds positive, strong relationships between our people.

Winner - Darcy Shedden

Darcy was nominated for this award by both staff and colleagues in the Guest Services Team.

Darcy is very passionate about the zoo and the Volunteer programs, she has become a sort of ‘point of contact’ for the Guest Services volunteers in relation to any issues or problems and endeavours to open a strong line of communication between the volunteers and all relevant stakeholders.

Darcy is always willing to take responsibility for the public and the volunteers themselves.  She has served on the Volunteers Committee and is dedicated to keeping open communication between the Guest Services Volunteer workforce and Taronga’s Management. 

Darcy’s commitment to the zoo and it’s volunteer programs means she goes above and beyond her regular role and presents solutions as well as highlighting issues.

Her colleagues have described her as ‘a person of vision’ and that the zoo is very lucky to have her … as we, the volunteers, are lucky to have her representing for us.

Highly Commended - Dick Gall

Dick was also nominated for this award by staff as well as colleagues.

Dick Gall has been an outstanding volunteer for the past nine years.  He has acted in the role of Coordinator, Mentor to new trainees, Gold Tour Guide, Animal Handler, in short any task with sensitivity and common sense. He has served on the Volunteer Committee and in that time completed a comprehensive cataloguing system with photographs of all the biofacts held for touch tables, a task he continues to do.  He has been a stalwart at Animal Watch where he has not only undertaken the observation tasks but also has a key role in the construction of many of the enrichment activities including the large chimp hammocks.  He is also a Guest Speaker for the Zoo – involving a wide range of our community of the Zoo’s aspirations.

Dick is a truly professional member of our volunteer body

S: Show dignity and respect

This award pays tribute to volunteers who are committed to being honest, accountable, and transparent and who treat each person as they expect to be treated.

Winner - Marie Brines

Mari has been volunteering at the zoo since 1986.

She personifies honesty, accountability, transparency and treats others as you expect to be treated. She is patient and kind, even with difficult people.

She works on Touch Tables and is very knowledgeable with a strong interest in the zoo.  When dealing with children she always has a lovely story for them to take home about  the animals.

Always cheerful, kind and lovely to have on the day.  She is the kind of person if involved in a conversation that gets negative, she always brings it back to something pleasant.

She is described as ‘A very special person and you will never hear a bad word about her, if we have a special occasion she will always bake and if someone is sent off to work with her on a touch table, they always go off with a smile.

And we just think she is very special’

Highly Commended - Gail Park

Gail Park

Gail was nominated not only for her excellent work and attitude while volunteering but for the extra care and effort she takes in mentoring our new Volunteers.

Her example to the new volunteers as an ideal guest services volunteer could not have been better. She is polite, calm, knowledgeable and treats every guest as though they are the most valued person to visit the zoo.

Gail’s knowledge of the zoo, its procedures and its animals is truly amazing, but her willingness to give the time and effort to “show people the ropes” has been fantastic ensuring that our visitors not only now, but into the future will have a fantastic day at the zoo

I: Innovate and take initiative

This award highlights volunteers who stand out from the crowd because of their willingness to use their initiative or embrace changes that will lead to the realisation of our Vision.

Winner - Chris Kewley

On a Wednesday in February Chris appeared at Nicole Whitfield’s door. He was there to

request a TCOY collection box and a few laminated posters for a shop he works for at Warringah Mall. He has since collected almost 150 phones. But his shop was not enough!!!

Through his efforts and dedication to TCOY Warringah Mall are now supporting the program with a mobile phone collection point at their Customer Service desk and our campaign advertised on their website and facebook pages. Almost every fortnight on a Wednesday his eager face is at Nic’s door again requesting more posters and more boxes. As he is always busy and committed to rallying more TCOY champions in the many shops that make up Warringah Mall. These shops are displaying posters and setting up phone collections points some in staff rooms and others in their shop fronts for the public to see.

On Sunday 3^rd April Warrick, Nic Whitfield and Chris took  a Zoomobile to Warringah Mall to raise awareness and generate support from Mall visitors and business owners/workers. It was a great success with lots of interest from visitors who took recycling satchels and from business workers/owners who took boxes to set up collection points in their own shops.

Since this visit Chris has been an asset as he is always flying the TCOY flag and maintains a passionate, enthusiastic and capable presence of the program at Warringah Mall. He ensures that our supporters are continually engaged with our mobile phone recycling program.

I am confident that without Chris we would not have had the opportunity to partner with the Mall or to maintain the support and commitment that we have received so far. His attitude and dedication to our program epitomises Taronga’s values.

His passion and initiative is infectious.

Highly Commended - Steve Westnedge

Award Recipient Steve Westnedge

Steve was inducted into the Bird Show community when be commenced his Taronga Training Institute placement. During that time Steve demonstrated a strong work ethic, being a reliable, efficient and competent worker.

Upon completing his assigned time with Bird Show, Steve Began Volunteering. 

Since then Steve has not only upheld these values, but become a strong and trusted member of the team.

Examples of Steve’s innovation include finding a suitable material to assist our Red-tailed Black Cockatoo release system, sourcing recycled tennis balls as enrichment for our raptors and assisting in the design of our new Homing Pigeon release system.

Steve has proven to be a valuable member of the team. Thank you!

C: Clear and simple

This award celebrates those volunteers that are committed to finding effective, creative, clear and simple ways of carrying out their role.

Winner - Cherie Grimes

Cherie Grimes has been volunteering in many areas of the Zoo over the past few years

including Human Resources, Public Relations and the Zoo Parent area.

Cherie is always willing to assist whenever help is needed, even at short notice. She is extremely dedicated and reliable who always says YES to help no matter what the task is.

Cherie always displays a calm and positive attitude when fulfilling the task at hand. She is always more than happy to carry out administrative tasks, even when they aren’t very exciting. Cherie has a ‘can do’ attitude, always carries out her work with smile on her face, and always conducts herself professionally.

Cherie is also a quiet achiever who is clearly devoted to the work of Taronga, and is most certainly an admired and valued volunteer.

Highly Commended - Rachel Howey

Rachel is a person who takes on every task with a smile and a ‘sure, no problem!’ She makes sure that each task she starts is completed and is always willing to help out no matter what the task is. 

 

Rachel is also always on the lookout for clear, effective and efficient solutions to complete her tasks. She certainly brightens everyone’s day and gets through an enormous amount of work, contributing to a creative and productive Taronga Training Institute Team!