By Molly Magennis
A Hobsons Bay local has been recognised for his volunteer work in schools across the community as a part of National Volunteer Week.
Ted Hudson has been acknowledged by EdConnect, a charity who connects local volunteers with schools, for his work with students in Melbourne’s West over the last 14 years.
This recognition has come in time for National Volunteer Week, which runs from May 16 to May 22 and celebrates the importance of volunteer work across the country.
Mr Hudson said he struggled immensely during lockdown’s over the past two years, and couldn’t wait to get back to helping students when everything had returned to normal.
“My life was horrendously wasted during the Covid-19 lockdown period, there is no sugar coating it,” he said.
“Being a dedicated lifetime youth worker there is no way I can keep busy and, living alone, I found the time considerably boring.
“Of course, there is housework, shopping, and walking to be done, but technology such as phones, computers, and television is no substitute whatsoever for being actively out and about in the community.
“When the lockdowns were over, I was most looking forward to returning to libraries, gym sessions, junior sports coaching and assisting at schools.”
Recently, Mr Hudson was invited to talk to students in Altona about what school was like in the 1950’s in comparison to today. He said the chance to share memories from his own childhood was an extremely enjoyable experience.
“The students seemed to be engaged and interested and started asking lots of questions, it was great to have the teacher there to emphasise certain points too,” he said.
Currently, Mr Hudson is volunteering at Altona College two days a week, where he listens to grade one students read and helps out around the classroom.
He described volunteering as an extremely rewarding role, and encouraged anyone who was interested to get involved.
“It’s nice to be part of their learning journey and it’s not always classroom learning, you can help in a garden, cooking, specialist classes or even help out around the school with maintenance or office work,”
EdConnect western region liaison officer Rhonda Velkovski said Mr Hudson has so much knowledge and life experience to share with young students.
“Without the ongoing commitment from people like Ted, EdConnect would not be able to support the 14,000 students that we do across Australia each year,” she said.
