Communities
ICV works in partnership with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and organisations through linking skilled and trained volunteers to projects that have been identified as part of a community’s vision or development plan.
ICV is a not-for-profit and non-government organisation. We do not charge a fee for the services we provide to communities or organisations.
ICV works on projects that have been identified as part of a community’s vision for the future, often in the community’s development plan. It is important for ICV to support projects that have engagement by local people in their development and implementation. We can also help communities to document their vision for the future in a development plan.
ICV works by building on local strengths, knowledge and developing strong respectful relationships between ICV, volunteers, communities and other organisations.
ICV volunteers can play an important role in communities, supplementing existing skills and helping to develop new skills that contribute to a stronger future for the whole community. Projects are conducted by community invitation only. Communities determine the skills needed, manage the project design, select the volunteers, and run the project in a way that works best for them. An ICV Project Officer supports the community as it undertakes these processes.
Our Project Officers work closely with communities and are active facilitators, engaging with other agencies on the ground, making referrals and suggesting and supporting partnerships where appropriate. It is important communities have the capacity and time to undertake projects they identify, and local people need to be involved and engaged with the project.
Community story
Volunteer extending personal boundaries
I am just a city slicker really. Well, until I volunteered with ICV.
My most recent project is assisting Walgett Aboriginal Medical Services (WAMS) with their Silver Jubilee in April 2011.
Who said it was scary to fly on small planes? I had to have hypnotherapy to fly.
Making up
ICV is an organisation based on strong values and a philosophy of capacity building and sustainability.
As an ICV staff member, I believe we should practice what we preach, so I jumped at the chance in March to be part of a project on Goulburn and Croker Islands in West Arnhem Land.
We held beauty therapy workshops with school girls aged from 11 to 16 with the workshops also open to the ladies of the community