Volunteering Gippsland: 2026 Tidy Towns finalist -Behaviour Change Campaigns and Education

Twenty-two Year 12 students. One hospital maternity garden. A $6.50 return for every dollar spent.

Volunteering Gippsland partnered Leongatha Secondary College's Vocational Major students with Gippsland Southern Health Service to redesign, fund and build the hospital's maternity garden, working with hospital staff, community volunteers and the hospital's Aboriginal Cultural Liaison Officer to incorporate culturally significant planting.

The idea was simple but pointed: rather than asking students to squeeze volunteering around school, work, sport and family, embed it in the curriculum itself. Students managed the budget, ran fundraising, secured local business donations and presented their progress directly to hospital and GippSport boards, putting in more than 1,100 volunteer hours over 18 weeks.

An independent Social Value Bank evaluation estimated the project generated $71,245 in social value from a $12,960 investment, and all 22 students showed measurable improvements in volunteering behaviour and work skills. One student was offered a hospital traineeship after presenting to the Board.

What Volunteering Gippsland learned: young people don't need convincing to volunteer, they need to be trusted with something real. The partnership now continues into its next cohort, and four other schools are adapting the model with their own community partners.

Congratulations to Volunteering Gippsland, a Tidy Towns finalist in Behaviour Change Campaigns and Education.

Meet all the finalists here: https://www.kabvic.org.au/post/meet-the-2026-tidy-towns-and-cities-sustainability-awards-finalists

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