Our volunteers are the lifeblood of our organisation bringing lots of different and much-needed skill, experience, and knowledge to our organisation.
We are always on the look out for dedicated people who would like to get their hands dirty and help out in our Nursery, Retail, & Biocontrol facilities on an on-going or short-term basis. Ideally 1-2 days per week with set days each week (however, we are flexible when needed).
We urgently need a dedicated person to help out in the retail store 1-2 days per week. We are flexible with days and times to suit all lifestyles, whether you’re a stay-at-home mum that has school runs twice a day, or have a casual job, we will work with you!
Our Organisation
Gympie and District Landcare Group (GDLG) is a community-based organisation that has been active for 30 years serving the local landowners. The Group is an incorporated association and a registered charity. Each year members elect an Executive (Management Committee) that sets strategic direction, manages organisation risks, fine tunes policies and ensures that the organisation is operating effectively whilst staying true to its vision and purpose.
Members and volunteers are integrally involved in the group’s activities: operating a local native plant nursery; raising Bio-Control insects for invasive plant species control and other purposes; providing land care services, fostering local land caring activities; and community education.
Nursery Tasks
Tasks vary daily depending on what your skills are and where volunteers are most needed throughout the nursery. We have listed some of the tasks that our volunteers do below.
Please note: these tasks are not the responsibility of just one person, this is an example of some of the tasks you may do whilst volunteering with us.
- 1 x 2 day a week Centrelink committed volunteer who can do pond project one day and outdoor retail stuff the other day
- ½-1 day a week to help with building/painting habitat boxes
- 1-2 day a week volunteers willing to learn point of sale (POS) and to assist with customer service
Note: Must be reasonably fit and able to work in hot conditions
Biocontrol
- Invasive weed planting & maintenance
- Cleaning and setting up insect enclosures
- Insect harvesting, release and monitoring
- Packing composting worms, vermicast and liquid
- Trapping and collecting dung beetles.
Note: Must be reasonably fit and able to work in hot conditions
- Potting, propagation, cleaning of pots and trays
- Weeding and general maintenance
- Seed collection and processing
- Stock movement
- Stock consolidation (organise and/or cull trays)
- Plant protection (chem sprays)
- Apply fertilizers
- Make potting and propagation mixes
- Assist in retail and bio as required
- Pick orders
- Follow instructions and WHS protocols
Attention to safety is essential!
General
- Garden maintenance, Weeding, General tidying up, etc.
- Gurney paths and entrance ways
- Cleaning, organising, and archiving
- Assistance with Events or Workshops
Skills
There are no technical skills required to be a volunteer with Gympie Landcare, however, the below skills are highly desirable:
- Carpentry skills
- Plumbing or irrigation skills
- Other occasional trade skills – electrical, welding, etc
- IT skills – POS, databases, spreadsheets, documents
- Horticulture training/experience
- Sales/retail experience
- NRM knowledge
- Biosecurity knowledge
- Plant identification skills
- Project/planning skills
- Stock monitoring (plants and retail/nursery supplies) skills/experience
- Agricultural skills
Volunteer Inductions
Before you can become a volunteer with Gympie Landcare, you are required to attend a volunteer induction.
Our volunteer induction takes approximately 30mins where you will be taken through organisation principles, rules and other important information such as our Code of Conduct, followed by a quick tour around our bio-control facility and nursery facility.
We periodically hold WH&S induction days for our volunteers throughout the year to sign our volunteers off on procedures such as working safely with power tools, fertilisers etc. Both the initial induction and the WH&S inductions throughout the year are compulsory for all volunteers to ensure you are working safely within your volunteer area.
If you’re interested in becoming part of a friendly and active team of volunteers and would like to contribute to our organisation and the environment, please contact the nursery to organise an induction or call the office on 5483 8866