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The VNQ Team
Meet the team behind Volunteering North Queensland!
Management Committee
Deanne Bell - President
Patricia Staines - Vice President
Karon Pearce - Secretary
Theunis Kotzke - Treasurer
Ellen Conner - Committee
Claire Prenter - Committee
Craig Fahey - Committee
Staff & Volunteers
Anita Berry - Manager
Paula Johnson - Training Development Officer
Bob Roberson - Disaster Volunteer Coordinator
Justine Wilkinson - Administration Officer
Jean Keefe - Recorder of Statistics
Karen Pease - Volunteer Referral Officer/Administration Support
Linda Boorman - Volunteer Referral Officer
Helen McIntosh - Volunteer Referral Officer
Bill Simpkins - Volunteer Referral Officer
Phil Heang - Special Events Volunteer
Rae Enever - Special Events Volunteer
Eddie Tzack - Info Tech Support
Nicole Robertson - Webmistress/Newsletter Editor
Management Committee
Deanne Bell - President
Deanne Bell has been involved with Volunteering North Queensland's Management Committee for many years, holding various committee positions, Deanne is also the Townsville City Council representative on the committee.
Patricia Staines - Vice President
Trish has been a member of VNQ management Committee for 12 months. She is also a member of various international volunteering organisations who do active infrastructure and community building work in developing countries. Trish is the Research and Development Officer for Future Solutions Australia, an organisation committed to Sustainable Economic Development for Indigenous Australians, in remote and regional Australia. They focus on building community outcomes through economic development with the idea of increasing sustainable social and employment inclusion. They are also panel members for Indigenous Business Australia and the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations and do separate projects relating to research and feasibility studies to identify opportunities for improvement on current business infrastructure.
Karon Pearce - Secretary
Karon is married with two grown children and has lived in Townsville for 10 years. She has worked in the not-for-profit sector for 8 of those years and has been on the VNQ Management Committee for two years. Karon has qualifications in childcare and over the years has been on the committee of childcare, school and social club committees. Karon enjoys volunteering and helping out with organisations she is involved with.
Theunis Kotzke - Treasurer
Bio coming soon.
Ellen Conner - Committee
Ellen has over 10 years of experience working with volunteers in both the US and Australia, including coordinating volunteers for an historic home and a maritime museum. She has also managed programs for, and about, volunteers through the state volunteering centre in Western Australia. She served on the VNQ committee last year as Treasurer. Ellen currently works as the Marine Administration Officer for Pacific Marine Group in South Townsville.
Claire Prenter - Committee
Bio coming soon.
Craig Fahey - Committee
Community Development Officer
Communities for Children Townsville West
My role is the Community Development Officer for Communities for Children (C4C) Townsville West and I work with the Project Manager to deliver outcomes to local children and families in accordance with our Community Strategic Plan which we developed in consultation with the community.
I have over 20 years of experience working within the community, sport and recreation, this includes the position of Director of Junior Development for the Townsville Hockey Association and education sectors as a Project Development Officer, Sport and Recreation Support Officer. I have also served my country in the Department of Defence (Army).
I have been involved in many not for profit organisations for years and have always enjoyed volunteering by either helping out with local schools or being involved in various sporting organisations as coach, Board of Management position holder (Club, Association and State Level), for both my own and my children's sporting clubs.
Staff & Volunteers
Anita Berry - Manager
I joined VNQ in 1997 and over the past decade have seen VNQ develop into a significant Volunteer and Community hub. I'm one of those fortunate people who enjoy their job. I love the duality of VNQ's pivotal community role as a volunteer referral centre and community support and resource centre and have enormous satisfaction in knowing that I am making a positive contribution to other people's lives and my community. I am deeply appreciative of the role volunteers play in shaping and humanizing our community. I enjoy working in the community sector and I enjoy working with all the VNQ team. Without their enthusiasm, dedication and support VNQ wouldn't be the premier team we are. I look forward to working alongside you all in 2009.
Paula Johnson - Training Development Officer
Paula Johnson, our Training Development Officer, joined the Volunteering North Queensland team in 2007. Paula works part time and is available to speak to groups and individuals about their training needs on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday mornings. Paula has over 20 years experience working with the community sector and at various levels of government in Queensland and the Northern Territory. For the past 8 years she has also been delivering accredited and non-accredited training specifically designed to assist volunteers, managers of volunteers and not for profit organisations develop the skills to more effectively and efficiently manage their services.
Bob Roberson - Disaster Volunteer Coordinator
Bob was appointed to this position on the 18th January 2011 and brings with him not only years of experience in the volunteer world but also equal experience in emergency management.
Bob holds Certificate IV in Training and Assessing, Public Safety Fire Fighting Supervision and Volunteer Coordination, along with many other accreditations including Disaster Incident Management.
Bob, as a Group Officer, Volunteer Rural Fire Service (Thuringowa ) took a Volunteer Taskforce to East Palmerston immediately after Cyclone Larry and even with crew rotations he spent 3 weeks living with the community during the clean up and recovery periods.
As a volunteer member of the Rural Fire Service bob has trained hundreds of volunteer Fire Fighters in Townsville/Thuringowa, Palm Island, Cairns, Bowen and as far west at Julia Creek. Because of his qualifications he has operated as Incident Controller for many Bush Fires.
Bob has just completed writing the Disaster Volunteer Management Plan for the VNQ and is currently involved in two areas of research that being Disaster Volunteering and Volunteer Utilization and the area of Left and Right Brain Thinking and it application to training needs.
Justine Wilkinson - Administration Officer
An experienced arts worker, Justine has been employed in various capacities throughout her career including music publishing, journalism, management, event production, and community cultural development. She is experienced in the corporate as well as the community sector and has worked with numerous volunteer organisations over the past decade to develop their capacity for long-term sustainability. Justine has joined VNQ as 'front of house' where she is enjoying the friendly atmosphere and lack of work stress despite being part of a very busy office.
Jean Keefe - Recorder of Statistics
I joined the VNQ team in 2001 after I retired. I work Thursday mornings and manually record volunteer referral statistics to be used for reporting purposes. On several occasions after computer crashes my stats have saved the day. I began volunteering so that I could stay active and keep my mind busy. I enjoy line dancing and Tai Chi. My cats are the love of my life, but I have a fondness for strays and often have one or two turn up on my doorstep for dinner.
Karen Pease - Volunteer Referral Officer/Administration Support
Bio coming soon.
Linda Boorman - Volunteer Referral Officer
I began volunteering at VNQ as an Interviewer/Referrals Officer in 2002 after a career teaching. I enjoy the challenge of finding rewarding positions for the potential volunteers who contact VNQ and satisfying the organisations who are seeking the people's assistance.
Helen McIntosh - Volunteer Referral Officer
Hi, I'm Helen MacIntosh and I have been a volunteer at VNQ now for well over 15 months. Born in Townsville many many years ago and decided to settle back here last year as I love the weather and casual lifestyle. Started doing a bit of admin work at VNQ and am now one of the volunteers (Friday is my day) who interview prospective volunteers for various organisations.
Bill Simpkins - Volunteer Referral Officer
Bio coming soon.
Phil Heang - Special Events Volunteer
Since 2002 Phil Heang has been a student of Meditation Master, Lama Choedak, who is a Tibetan born Buddhist .
After completing a train the trainer course in 2006, with Lama Choedak, Phil began teaching Buddhist Calm Abiding Meditation, which incorporates mindfulness.
Many hundreds of students have completed the calm Abiding Meditation course and many report positive changes in their lives due to meditation and mindfulness.
Phil is a volunteer Buddhist Chaplain at James Cook University and Townsville hospitals.
The hospital chaplaincy involves counselling cancer patients in the final stages of life, performing Buddhist rituals when patients die and helping grieving relatives.
Rae Enever - Special Events Volunteer
Bio coming soon.
Eddie Tzack - Info Tech Support
I joined the VNQ team in 2001 as their info tech support person. I work Tuesday mornings and I'm responsible for maintaining the computer systems and network and computers. I've designed a couple of programs for VNQ to use in administration and am currently designing an admin program for Mental Health Fellowship.
Nicole Robertson - Webmistress/Newsletter Editor
I joined VNQ as a volunteer in 2003. My role is Webmistress and Newsletter Editor - which is a fancy way of saying that I'm the one who updates VNQ's website and produces the Willing & Able newsletter every second month. My background is in administration and website design, although I also have certificates in financial services and small business management. In my spare time, I enjoy reading, writing, drawing and scale model making.