National Volunteer Week 2025: Enriching lives through friendly conversations, laundry, and dancing.

“For most of the people I meet at Hutt St, a friendly conversation and remembering their name really makes a difference. It brightens their day to think, “somebody knows who I am, somebody actually wants to talk to me.”

Meet Natasha. She has been volunteering at Hutt St Centre for four years, helping in the laundry, and giving out lunch and material support to people doing it tough.

Her first involvement with Hutt St Centre was through doing Walk a Mile in My Boots with her children. Then a close friend who volunteers at Hutt St Centre encouraged her to volunteer as well.

“I really love volunteering at the IGNITE women’s group. Some of the stories that women have shared with me can be quite upsetting, it’s hard seeing women come in who have been in vulnerable situations.”

Thanks to volunteers like Natasha, IGNITE is a safe space for women to seek support to overcome difficult circumstances – as well as a place of fun and connection.

“There’s a really good culture at IGNITE. A few women in the group love dancing, so now at the beginning of IGNITE, everyone who wants to gets up and dances - the Nutbush is a favourite!”

Natasha shares her love for cooking through volunteering, starting a cooking class with our Aged City Living group, a program for older adults at risk of or experiencing homelessness.

“Cooking is probably my biggest passion. We’ve done sausage rolls, homemade pasties, lots of different things. Once a week I also go on excursions with the Aged City Living group - we’ve been to Monarto Zoo, Parliament House, down to Glenelg for fish and chips, and more. It’s lovely to sit and talk to people.”

Our volunteers enrich the lives of people coming to Hutt St Centre. However, volunteering has also had an impact on Natasha.

“Volunteering enriches my own life so much. It’s made me think so differently about all these beautiful people that I have met. I’ve learnt that becoming homeless is not far from anyone. You become a better person for helping people.”

Thank you, Natasha, for sharing your time, warmth, and friendliness with people seeking support at Hutt St Centre. We’re so grateful to you and our team of 250 volunteers for ensuring that everyone who walks through our doors is treated with dignity and respect.