SVA Service Award – Celebrating Student Volunteering in South Australia.

Volunteering SA&NT has partnered with Student Volunteer Army New Zealand (SVA) to pilot the SVA Service Award program in 6 secondary schools across South Australia. The program is funded by the Department of Human Services and supported by the Department for Education.

The SVA Service Award recognises and celebrates the amazing volunteering that young people do and supports and showcases the skills they develop as a result.

Through the SVA Service Award app or website student volunteers can record and reflect on the good they do in their communities. Students receive commemorative badges when they reach key milestones. The SVA platform also generates a Summary of Service document to highlights students’ volunteering achievements.

The SVA Service Award program aims to:

• Celebrate the volunteering efforts of young people
• Showcase the importance of volunteering and encourage more young people to take part
• Highlight the skills that volunteering helps to develop, and how they align to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals
• Demonstrate the benefits of volunteering, particularly those related to post-school pathways such as gaining employment or apprenticeships or pursuing further study
• Support volunteering organisations by building the capacity to engage a more diverse range of volunteers

The SVA Service Award is currently only available to South Australian students attending one of the schools participating in the pilot program.

To find out more about the SVA Service Award pilot program contact Emma Vallelonga.

E: emma.vallelonga@vsant.org.au  T: 0408 650 024