VOLUNTEERING in Orange has taken a dive in figures since 2016, the latest Australian census data reveals, with further research pinning COVID-19 as the culprit.
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While the city's population grew by 7.8 per cent in the same period, the number of residents volunteering their time dropped by a staggering 19.5 per cent.
In 2016, volunteers in the Local Government Area of Orange recorded a figure of 6447. Five years down the track, however, that number has fallen to 5187.
Volunteering through an organisation or group, the drop in over 1260 unpaid roles points to COVID-related impacts across most services.
Orange's Salvation Army corps officer, Major Colin Young, says the pandemic period had "absolutely been difficult" when it came to volunteer retention during that time, with the many uncertainties and reduced service hours.
"We had to instruct volunteers not to come out to our stores as we had to close for a while, and then we had all of the restrictions coming in - about who could come back and who had to be vaccinated - the apprehension [that COVID] brought with it as well, was a particular factor," Major Young said.
"And I think once people get out of the habit of volunteering, it can take a while for them to come back, so there's still plenty of ground to make up."
For volunteers, aged 15 years and over, many were either unable to physically engage with services as such, or were under individual lockdown restrictions.
Impacts were also due to many services being inoperable, or running on skeletal hours during the pandemic.
The essential service only found a few workers dropping off, with the demand in food hampers growing higher than ever.
"We lost very few volunteers - maybe three of four out of 60-odd volunteers - and we had people calling to volunteer, because they'd either lost their usual casual work or just really wanted to help out," FoodCare Orange's management committee secretary Alex Ruse said.
"Even now, we're still getting referrals from NSW Health and delivering food to people - who have no food and no social supports - who are isolating at home because of COVID."
While only nipping at the heels in comparison, the region's latest volunteer figures still remain higher than the 13 per cent in NSW overall, and Australia's total at 14.1 per cent.
National statistics also fell dramatically across the country for volunteer workers in general, according to research from the Australian National University's Centre for Social Research and Methods.
"There's always room for more people, we welcome volunteers - without them, it means that less work and less funding can be raised to help others in the community," Major Young said.
"But I wouldn't say that it's all negative, as that trepidation continues to dissipate now - so, I think our outlook is positive to get more of our volunteers back on board soon."
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