With 17 staff and over 300 volunteers providing services, much of our focus has been on effective volunteer coordination, getting the right volunteer into a role that suits both their skillset and their availability.

Over the last two years our Chief Operations Officer, Sabina Kovadlo, successfully completed her studies in Volunteer Management obtaining Certificate IV in Volunteer Management and Coordination. Additionally, as part of Continuous Professional Development through NSW Centre for Volunteering, Sabina was recognised as a Professional Leader of Volunteers. With this recognition, COA has become one of only few organisations in NSW to have a staff member with this training.

Sabina will be working closely with our new Volunteer Coordinator Samantha “Sam” Peirson to bring her newly learnt skills to bear in providing a great experience for COA’s army of volunteers and the seniors whom we serve.

While we are on this topic we must say a farewell to Robbie Clifford, who came on in the middle of the 2020 COVID lockdown as a volunteer, and stayed to help with volunteer coordination. In June of 2021, after a year of amazing work, Robbie decided to move on, and we welcomed Sam onto our staff. We will miss Robbie’s wicked sense of humor and his dedication to COA, it's members and it's volunteers.

Sam came to us early in 2021 as a social work student doing placement with COA. During this time she proved to be diligent, caring and committed to the welfare of our seniors. We were so sorry to say goodbye to her when her placement was over, and  so the staff are all very pleased that she has come back on a more permanent basis. Sam is working  with us by day and continues her social work studies remotely at night.

So, with Sabina’s new qualifications in Volunteer Coordination, and Sam on staff as our new Volunteer Coordinator, we see only good things on the horizon for our wonderful volunteers.