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How an invisible volunteer is making a powerful impact

This video tells the story of Simon who applies his web development skills at Street Smart Australia by helping them keep their websites running.

Simon Bristow likes to do his work in the background. “I think this is a bit of a myth about volunteering actually, in that, you have to be someone with ‘get up and go’.”

Simon volunteers a few hours every week for StreetSmart Australia, keeping their websites up and running. StreetSmart is an organisation with an unrivalled 15-year track record of raising funds and awareness for smaller grassroots homeless services that struggle for funding. They do this through innovative fundraising campaigns, including DineSmart, CafeSmart and StreetFunder engaging with over 900 small businesses and 100,000s of people.

Simon believes that charities “live or die” by their ability to market themselves online and with his skills in web development, finds it easy to be a “silent volunteer”.

With around five hours of volunteer work from home one week, and then an hour or less during more quiet periods, he says, “A little bit of work can make such a difference to people who I otherwise wouldn’t come into contact with.”

Helping others is easier than you think. If you have tech skills like Simon or enjoy going about your work “in the background” there are many volunteer opportunities waiting for you here.