Pets-A-Loud

15 May 2015

Volunteer Week 2015: We Love Our Vollies!

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Volunteer Week 2015: We Love Our Vollies!

Every year six million Australians take time out of their busy schedules to volunteer with a range of organisations, including The Lost Dogs’ Home and JOY 94.9. Each and every one of these volunteers makes a wonderful contribution to the local community.

But did you know that volunteering isn’t just good for the community?

Studies show that volunteering is actually good for our mental wellbeing with just a few hours of volunteer work making a difference in a volunteer’s happiness and mood. In fact, sustained volunteering is associated with better mental health.

May 11 – 17 is National Volunteer Week and this year’s theme is Give Happy, Live Happy and on this edition of Pets-A-Loud we’ll look at how volunteering, in particular volunteering with animals, can have positive mental health benefits.

Also on the program:

We talk with Dr Stephen Carbone from beyondblue about why volunteering is good for your mental health.
We’ chat to LDH volunteer dog walker Raf about how volunteering at the Home has helped him manage his anxiety and depression,
And, volunteer coordinator Emmanuel chats about how you can join our terrific team of volunteers at the Home.

To read our feature story on Raf, visit http://dogshome.com/rafs-story/