Volunteers encouraged to chip in and help Winter Night Shelter

By Murray Silby

May 18, 2023

The Greater Shepparton Winter Night Shelter bus. Photo by Rodney Braithwaite

The winter temperatures are starting to settle in, especially overnight, and the Greater Shepparton Winter Night Shelter is starting to warm up its meals for the city’s homeless.

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The shelter, supported by seven local faith communities, operates by Victoria Park Lake through the winter months, relying on a team of volunteers to offer Shepparton’s homeless not only food, but vital social interaction.

Shelter board chair Kathy Hunt said an information session would be held on Saturday, May 20 for prospective volunteers or people wanting to know more about its work.

“We always need extras and it’s always good to have extras. Different people bring different skills,” she said.

Mrs Hunt said volunteers could bring a range of skills to the task, such as cooking, cleaning or simply being able to talk with the people who came by.

“It’s really important we have volunteers there just to talk,” she said.

“We want people to be happy to come by and feel respected. It’s almost more important than the meal.”

Mrs Hunt said it was estimated about 350 people were homeless in Greater Shepparton.

The shelter will start operating from June 1 for seven nights a week between 5.30pm and 7pm.

The information session will be held at Scots/St Andrew’s Uniting Church in Fryers St, Shepparton on Saturday at 11am.

For more information, call 0416 058 431.