Albany Mission to Seafarers honours volunteers and encourages new recruits during National Volunteer Week

Albany Mission to Seafarers celebrated the volunteers who give up their time to support international crew members visiting the Albany port as part of National Volunteer Week.

Mission to Seafarers is a global organisation that has been running since 1856.

They work in 200 ports around the world supporting sailors who have been working on ships for up to nine months.

The Albany Seafarers bring sailors who have worked long hours on ships into town for a break, providing them with food, activities and a sense of community.

According to the Australian Council for the Mission to Seafarers they “strive to promote an atmosphere of family, a sense of service and solidarity among those in maritime ministry, and strengthen ties between Australian and international seafarers centres to reinforce global MTS family and support networks”.

Regional director for Australia and Papua New Guinea Sue Dight travelled to Albany this week to meet local volunteers and members from the Esperance team, giving them a chance to connect and share ideas.

Ms Dight said it was nice to get the volunteers together to celebrate each other and discuss ideas on May 19.

“It’s National Volunteer Week and we had all of the volunteers drop in last night,” she said.

“It was an opportunity for me to catch up with not only the Albany team but also the two members of the Esperance team so they could get together, share ideas, work collaboratively and meet some seafarers that have been to both centres.”

Ms Dight said it was important for the organisation to exist to support those who live on these ships.

“The only time they can get away from work is if they’re coming to visit our centres so we are providing that access to shore leave,” she said.

“Shore leave is privileged and not everyone gets it so it’s an opportunity for them to spend at least four hours away from work and the team here in Albany do a fantastic job showing the seafarers around.”

She said Albany volunteers regularly took seafarers sightseeing around the region, including visits to see kangaroos and tourist attractions.

“One ship alone had seven different nationalities,” she said.

“They head up to the shops and from my estimation they spend $100,000 plus a year in Albany so they’re a big tourist opportunity for Albany.”

Mission to Seafarers relies heavily on volunteers and donations to keep services running.

“Most of our centres are volunteer organised and operated, so without volunteers we wouldn’t be able to provide the service,” Ms Dight said.

“We rely on donations and we rely on our small sales in our shop of souvenirs for the seafarers and any other donations that anyone else can provide.”

Albany Mission for Seafarers manager Tracy Sleeman said volunteers played a key role in helping visiting crews feel welcome in the Port of Albany.

“We have volunteers that will pick them up and take them to where they need like a local restaurant,” she said.

“We take them out and if they want to see a kangaroo we’ll take them out see one, if they want to see tourist stuff we will go to The Gap or whaling station and give them a cup of tea.”

Ms Sleeman said National Volunteer Week was an important opportunity to recognise the work of existing volunteers while also encouraging new people to get involved with the mission.

“We want to celebrate the volunteers that are with us but we also want to encourage some new people to come on board,” she said.

“We’re looking for new volunteers that might be interested so you get to board the ship, drive a little coaster bus and welcome new people that have spent a great deal on time on board ships.”