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Real Stories, Real Impact: Roses in the Ocean Celebrates Volunteers Making 2026 'Your Year to Volunteer'

Roses in the Ocean

Key Facts:

• Roses in the Ocean launches storytelling series for National Volunteer Week 2026 (18-24 May), highlighting volunteers' lived experiences in suicide prevention
• The campaign theme Your Year to Volunteer calls on Australians to contribute to stronger communities through meaningful volunteer work
• Volunteers use their personal experiences to provide peer-based support, contributing to community initiatives and helping others in distress
• Benefits of volunteering include personal growth, skill development, increased confidence, and a sense of purpose for both volunteers and those they support
• The organisation emphasises that there are multiple ways to volunteer and every contribution matters in building safer, more compassionate communities

As National Volunteer Week 2026 begins, Roses in the Ocean is shining a spotlight on the people at the heart of suicide prevention—its volunteers—sharing powerful lived experience stories that highlight why volunteering matters now more than ever.

 

This year’s theme, Your Year to Volunteer, is a national call to action, inviting Australians to step forward in ways that are meaningful to them and recognising the profound contribution volunteers make to stronger, more connected communities. [volunteeri...tralia.org]

 

For Roses in the Ocean, Australia’s national lived experience of suicide organisation, that call is deeply personal.

 

Through a special storytelling series launched for National Volunteer Week, the organisation is celebrating volunteers from across the country—people who have turned their own lived experience into something that supports others, builds connection, and creates hope.

 

“These are not just volunteer stories,” Amy, Head of Communications at Roses in the Ocean said. “They are stories of courage, of giving back, and of people choosing to use their lived experience to walk alongside others in some of life’s most difficult moments.”

 

The featured stories—captured through blogs, reflections and video interviews—highlight the real and lasting benefits of volunteering, both for the community and for the volunteers themselves.

 

For many, volunteering begins with a simple desire to give back.

 

Some volunteers describe being inspired by the support they once received, wanting to be that same steady presence for someone else. Others speak about finding a sense of purpose, connection, and belonging through shared experiences—something that is at the core of Roses in the Ocean’s peer-led, non-clinical approach.

 

Volunteering in suicide prevention also offers something unique: the opportunity to turn lived experience into something meaningful.

 

At Roses in the Ocean, volunteers are supported and trained to safely share their experiences, contribute to community-led initiatives, and provide compassionate, peer-based support to others navigating distress. This approach recognises that people with lived experience are uniquely placed to connect, understand, and inspire hope.

 

Importantly, the benefits flow both ways.

 

Volunteers consistently report that their involvement helps them make sense of their own experiences, build confidence, develop new skills, and feel part of something bigger than themselves. Many describe the experience as deeply healing, reinforcing the idea that volunteering is not just about giving—it is also about growth.

 

As one volunteer shared through the campaign, supporting others “helped me recognise that what I already had—my lived experience—was enough.”

 

These stories are central to Roses in the Ocean’s National Volunteer Week campaign, which aims not only to celebrate existing volunteers, but to encourage more people to consider getting involved.

 

The message is clear: there is no single way to volunteer, and every contribution matters.

Whether it’s offering peer support, contributing to community conversations, or helping shape future suicide prevention initiatives, volunteers play a vital role in building safer, more compassionate communities.

 

National Volunteer Week, held from 18–24 May 2026, is Australia’s largest annual celebration of volunteering, recognising the millions of people who give their time, skills and care to support others. [csc.gov.au]

 

For Roses in the Ocean, it is also an opportunity to amplify the voices of lived experience and show the real impact of volunteering in action.

 

“At a time when many people are looking for connection and purpose, volunteering offers both,” Amy said. “It’s about showing up, being human, and walking alongside someone else.”

 

By sharing these stories, Roses in the Ocean hopes to inspire more Australians to reflect on what they can offer—and to see that even the smallest step into volunteering can create lasting change.

 

Because sometimes, the most powerful support comes from someone who’s been there.

 

View campaign blog.

Contact details:

Amy Biswas (she/her)

Head of Communications & Design

Residing and working on Gimuy-Walubura Yidinji and Djabugay Nation country

M: 0428 230 429

E: [email protected]