Become a Volunteer Visitor and provide friendship and companionship to an older person living in an aged care home on the Central Coast...and best of all, you can bring along your best friend to volunteer with you too!

If you live in the southern part of the Central Coast (Gosford, Erina or Woy Woy areas), there's a new friend waiting to meet you (and your dog!) right now!

We're looking for volunteers who live, work, or are willing to travel to Gosford, Lisarow, Wyoming, Erina, Woy Woy, Point Clare and Umina Beach areas wanting to make a real difference to the social wellbeing of an older person who would dearly love to have a regular social visit with a friendly human...and their furry companion!

No special skills or experience required for Volunteer Visitors. Just a commitment to visit on a weekly or fortnightly basis for an hour, a well-behaved dog, a caring outlook and a genuine wish to get to know an older person and provide an opportunity for social connection.

The Aged Care Volunteer Visitors Scheme (ACVVS) is funded by the Australian Government and delivered by Volunteering Central Coast to older people living in residential aged care across the Central Coast. Many residents are socially isolated and feel lonely due to lack of visitors from family and friends. We help by matching them with a Volunteer Visitor for regular 1:1 in-person social visits. Just an hour, once a fortnight, can make a real difference to the person you are matched with.

Volunteering as an Aged Care Volunteer Visitor gives you access to new perspectives and helps you connect with your community. • Share the joy of your animal companion with another dog-lover • Make a new friend • Have a chat and a laugh together

Volunteer Visitors are: • aged 18 years and older • empathetic and have a genuine warmth towards older people • good communicators and great listeners • patient, kind and caring • willing to commit to being a regular visitor to the special person that are matched up with

Volunteer Visitor dogs do not need any special training or pet therapy accreditation, but must be well-behaved, clean and suitable for visiting in an aged care environment.

Location: In-person visits take place in an aged care home on the NSW Central Coast

***An interview with Volunteering Central Coast’s ACVVS Coordinator is required. You will be contacted to arrange a mutually convenient time and place. ***