Arafmi Volunteer Profile: Helen As part of National Volunteer Week (19–25 May), Arafmi Communications Officer Lilly Provenzano sat down with one of our volunteers, Helen, to reflect on her experience as a carer support group facilitator. 1. What motivated you to become a support group facilitator at Arafmi?I had been attending support groups for five to six years, participating as a carer myself. I was inspired. I have much admiration for them and observed the facilitators and staff clearly during this time. They were so clever and kind navigating big groups and people in trauma. The opportunity arose so I put my hand up. 2. Can you describe what typical support group sessions look like?Typically, they are varied in age, gender and circumstance. At my group, we see parents, serving long-term partners, sometimes both parents – different dynamics. Every support group session has an informal welcome, a check-in for newbies and then the more practical things like name badges. We welcome people, there are beverages. We do an Acknowledgement to Country.We spend time explaining the guidelines that the two-hour conversations operate under. We may talk about the time that every person gets to share – that there is no interrupting.
