Friends forever: volunteers ‘get more than you give’
A group of female volunteers are finding connection and friendship to combat the loneliness many Australians experience later in life.
For Mary-Anne Cahill, volunteering became part of her routine before she retired from teaching.
She applied for a volunteer role at Orange Sky, a charity that provides people experiencing homelessness with access to free showers and laundry services.
As people wait for their laundry, conversation naturally begins to flow.
“I’ve always been a good speaker but you also have to be a good listener voluntarily, it doesn’t require expertise but you just have to have empathy,” Ms Cahill told AAP.
What Ms. Cahill did not expect when she started the service was the friendships she would make with other volunteers in the service.
Her weekly devotion turned into a decade-long friendship with fellow volunteers Jan Pullar, Cheryl Gadsby and Kerron Bromfield.
“I didn’t think it would be this easy to make friends, but you share space with other people who share the same values and you find your own tribe,” Ms. Cahill said.
“We drink coffee, call each other often, get along very well, and have introduced each other through different life events.”
National Volunteer Week, May 18-24, highlights how volunteering can help combat loneliness as it provides the opportunity for social interaction.
A 2025 study at the University of Sydney found a causal link between loneliness and premature death, suggesting it could triple the risk of premature death among Australian women.
The research also found that the more often a person said they felt lonely, the higher their chances of premature death.
Almost one in five Australians say they currently volunteer for a charity or have done so in the last twelve months, according to research from Orange Sky.
One in three volunteers continue to participate due to the positive increase in their mental health and the social bonds formed.
After retiring as a nurse, Ms. Pullar found a new routine through volunteering.
Ten years later, in addition to regular shifts at the laundromat, he coordinates staffing and recruits new people to various teams for Orange Sky.
“You don’t always have the opportunity to meet new people later in life, so friendships have been an advantage,” he said.
“You really get more than you give.”
Loren Ayres, Orange Sky’s senior manager, said it takes about 200 hours to form a close friendship with someone new, making regular volunteering an ideal environment for those connections.
“Having the volunteer shift at the same time every week gives you the opportunity to connect and often turns into a friendship that extends beyond the shift,” she said.
“If you volunteer, you probably have similar values to someone in the same role, and at the end of the day, that’s the most important part of a friendship.”
