By Callum Ludwig
Students from the University of Technology in Sydney (UTS) ventured down to Yarra Junction to lend a helping hand on Thursday 6 July.
Students volunteered through the UTS’ Big Lift Program, where 80 students visit multiple towns over nine days and help out with small jobs that can make a big difference.
The Rotary Club of Upper Yarra helped coordinate the visit and President-Elect Jan Burney said it had been an incredibly positive experience.
“It’s wonderful, it’s been at least two months in the planning with regular communication so it was really exciting when they arrived last night and we had a lovely meal at the Millwarra Community Building,” she said.
“The students said our hall and the showers were the best they have had in their nine-day trip, I felt very proud of our town.”
The July trip is the Big Lift’s flagship event, with volunteers making other short trips to regional New South Wales towns throughout the year.
Second-year software engineering student at UTS Mudra Dongare said the students were helping out in six or seven towns on their way down to Melbourne.
“On the way, we just do anything that’s kind of non-skilled help, whether that’s gardening, weeding or painting schools, it depends on what each town needs,” she said.
“So far, we’ve done some helping out with flood-affected areas and then we also stopped at Eildon Public School where we cleaned up a lot of their sheds and classrooms, did mulching and that type of stuff.”
Big Lift volunteers helped clear and tidy the surrounding bush at family refuge Benwerren, clear the drains and help clean at the Karinya Retirement Village and helped Yarra Ranges Council’s Bushland Management team in planting 1000 native plants along the Warburton Trail east of Barack Drive.
Ms Burney said it’s inspiring and heartwarming to see young people helping out.
“Most of them are around 20 and they’ve taken on challenges, many of them had never really gardened before, especially if it’s their first trip, and I just thought it’s great how open they are to give it a go,” she said.
“Who knows whether it’s next year, whether it’s five years or 20 years’ time, they might tell a story about the Yarra Valley and that time that they went and helped out, I hope they’ll have fond memories.”
Other towns that Big Lift volunteers visited along their journey include Ganmain, Burrumbuttock and Eildon.
Ms Dongare said she would encourage anyone to do it and is definitely going to do it again herself.
“It is a great way to kind of stay engaged and actually learn quite a lot along the way, I think everyone really develops personally, as well as having a sense of fulfilment at the end,” she said.
“All of the towns we’ve hit are very different to back home, the sense of community is the key thing that stands out to me. There’s a lot of togetherness amongst everyone in the community, which I often don’t see back at home.”
