The MCC this week joins Volunteering Australia and the wider Australian community in celebrating National Volunteer Week, and the crucial role that the valued volunteers who donate their time at the MCG and the Club play in the day-to-day operations.
Volunteers who call the Club home fulfil roles across the MCC Library and MCC Museum Volunteers in the Members Reserve, the Australian Sports Museum in the Olympic Stand inside Gate 3 of the MCG, in various capacities through the MCC’s Sporting Sections as well as our internationally-recognisable MCG Tour Guides.Managed by the Club, the MCG boasts 343 volunteers who currently donate their time to the venue with a cumulative 3,732 years of service to the Ground.
More than half (184) of these volunteers having served for 10 or more years and 94 per cent of MCG volunteers are aged 60 or above.
Already in 2021, MCG volunteers have completed a total of almost 900 shifts for over 2,700 hours of service – those statistics almost on par with a 2020 year, where visitation was decimated by the two COVID-19 lockdowns endured in Melbourne.
Australia’s largest annual celebration of volunteers, National Volunteer Week runs between Monday May 17 to Sunday May 23, and celebrates the significant contribution of Australia’s six million volunteers.
The theme for this year’s National Volunteer Week is Recognise. Reconnect. Reimagine.
MCC Volunteers Coordinator, Kate Freer said the sense of connection that volunteering at the MCG and the wider Club fosters, reflects the quality people and quantity of volunteers that donate their time at the Ground.
"Working with our volunteers is like being part of a big family, so it was tough not being able to see them day to day last year," Freer said.
"During the closure in 2020, we kept in touch with the volunteers by phone and via regular emails, their support to the staff was unwavering and really helped to keep our spirits up during a challenging time.
"It is awesome to have the volunteers back at the MCG bringing their unique stories and passion to their volunteering roles, which makes coming to the MCG such a special experience for all."
An MCC Library Volunteer of 38 years, and the longest active serving volunteer at the Club, Eric Panther said: “I became a volunteer in 1983 for one day to look at some cigarette cards that I heard where here and found what appeared to be a goldmine.
“Rex Harcourt, who was organizing the Library at the time, asked me if I could stay.
“The best part of coming back (this year) was seeing the people that I worked with. (On that first day) it felt a little bit like I was going back to school for the first day.”
The MCC will celebrate National Volunteering Week by bring to life stories of our volunteers and what volunteering at the MCG and the Club means to them. Keep an eye on MCC social channels for more content.
For more information on NWV, visit volunteeringaustralia.org/get-involved/nvw/