AWVRB participation manager Sharon Pellas said there were currently around 1200 volunteers "on the books", but numerous organisations from across the Border were getting in touch to find volunteers as events, meetings and life started up again after lockdowns.

"After what happened during COVID we're only building up again now," she said.

Ms Pellas said in 2020 the Bureau lost almost half its volunteers, because many - particularly elderly volunteers - were afraid to leave the house and be around people.

"And also a lot of services closed, especially the aged care services," she said.

"So a lot of those vulnerable people who were within services, they were closed off to volunteers because of COVID, everyone was shut off for a period of time, so of course we couldn't get volunteers to go into those services."

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A recent National Seniors Australia report revealed half of the seniors surveyed volunteered at least some of their time, but COVID was the most common reason for them to not volunteer.

Ms Pellas said across Victoria nearly 80 per cent of volunteers were aged 65 or above and the pandemic highlighted the need for a younger cohort of volunteers.

"We have lots of volunteers coming from all levels, which is just lovely, we just don't have a lot of young people yet," she said.

"We've got older people now who are less able to volunteer and we need those younger people coming in."

Ms Pellas encouraged anyone thinking about volunteering to reach out via the 'opportunities' page on the Bureau's website.

"We are in a recruitment drive, we'd love to see more volunteers," she said. Ms Pellas said there was a huge range of types of volunteering work, from helping children complete their homework, to writing meeting minutes for community groups, to helping elderly citizens use technology to volunteering at museums, neighbourhood houses or charities.

"For example locally here we find that we have a lot of people who would like to work in aged care," she said.

"They could go into an aged care facility, sit down, have a cup of coffee, they could stay for a few hours and they could take someone in a wheelchair out for a walk, all of that sort of stuff."

She told potential volunteers to consider "where their passion is", so they could volunteer doing something they loved and enjoyed.

"If they enjoy what they're doing, they are the people who stick," she said.

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