Warrnambool's Red Cross op-shop is in desperate need of volunteers after losing more than three quarters of its members resulting in slashed opening hours, days and revenue.
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Red Cross retail area manager Chris Drossos said the store previously had about 20 volunteers before the first COVID-19 lockdown.
"We had a few older volunteers come and go when they were feeling up to it, a lot of them were just hanging on," Mr Drossos said.
"After coronavirus lockdowns with the store being closed for so many different periods I think a few thought it was time to retire.
"We were kind of dissipated after that and it's been really difficult to attract new volunteers since.
"We have five or six at the moment but we really need to get those numbers up because we're not able to trade our full hours unfortunately.
"Where we used to trade 9.30am-4.30pm we (now) only trade 10am-3pm.
"It's really an unfortunate situation."
Mr Drossos said the store had to shut on some days due to a lack of volunteers, which was frustrating.
"Unfortunately sometimes we need to pick a day to close because we don't have enough help," he said.
"Sometimes we will close on a Monday but as much as possible we try to stay open.
"You need to trade the full hours to generate revenue.
"When it's open it does well, but you just need to open more."
Mr Drossos said anyone keen to help out at the store could either ring and volunteer directly or sign up online.
"If they ring the store they could speak to one of the volunteers and find out more information, but for those who are able we encourage them to visit the Red Cross website and find out more about the volunteer opportunities," Mr Drossos said.
"There's a lot you can do.
"We're always looking for people who love customer service, we also have a back-room team and they sort through the donations."
Volunteering can be flexible with different options available.
"It's a minimum of four hours a week, some people like to come in and do something relaxing like steaming and ironing," Mr Drossos said.
Jessica Greenan
Journalist at The Warrnambool Standard covering both Moyne Shire and Corangamite Shire Council. Sometimes court. Special interest in all things environment.
Journalist at The Warrnambool Standard covering both Moyne Shire and Corangamite Shire Council. Sometimes court. Special interest in all things environment.
