I wear a lot of hats.  Figuratively, not literally – hats are not my thing. Three days a week, I’m a learning assistant (teacher’s aide) and I love it. Appropriately at our school there is a big emphasis on education. And by that I mean teacher education as well as student education. There are professional development days, short courses, first aid courses and post-grad study options. In a way, I was a little taken aback when I found out about the extra study but then I realised it’s the school’s way of investing into their staff.

When I started volunteering at The Babes Project I was also a little surprised to learn that becoming a volunteer doesn’t simply stop after induction and ‘getting to know you’ sessions. As a new volunteer, you’re expected to work through a few different exercises to get a deeper and better understanding of who The Babes Project is, what we do and how we do it.

Training sessions are also held throughout the year, including a weekend long retreat. The Babes Project team gathers and our leaders teach us about different aspects of our work. Sometimes being asked to give up a Saturday or having to read articles or books can seem a bit of a chore but at the end of the day, I’m grateful for the opportunity to learn more about what I do and why The Babes Project even exists. I’m thankful for a leadership team that gives up their time, effort and talent to invest into their team.

Last Saturday, volunteers from the Croydon, Frankston and Admin hubs gathered to learn and laugh together. We heard from Helen, Founder + Managing Director, about her experience and about how important funding and releasing our Rewriting Motherhood book is. It will provide stories from ten women and their real and raw experiences of pregnancy and motherhood. It will provide hope for those in similar situations and let them know that they are not alone in their experience.

We heard from Bec, Assistant Director, about recognising our own strengths and biases and how we can be conscious of them in providing better service. Our care team then stayed for lunch and received some training so that they are even better equipped to care for our women and their babies.

How blessed we are to have the opportunity to gather and share and learn from each other.