For volunteers of Vinnies Van’s “Sunday Team B”, an inaugural retreat at the Edmund Rice Retreat & Conference Centre offered an opportunity to pause, reflect and reconnect with the mission that guides their service to the community. 

Held last November, the retreat brought together volunteers for a weekend of formation, spiritual reflection and fellowship. While Vinnies Van's volunteers regularly provide practical assistance and compassionate support to people doing it tough, the retreat created space to strengthen team connections. 

The weekend was centred around three key sessions. Staff from the Lewisham Support Centre, Joanne Riakos and Sandra Zivkovic, facilitated an “About Vinnies” session, exploring the Society’s work and mission across NSW. Volunteers were able to gain a greater appreciation of the many ways the Society supports people experiencing disadvantage and the role Vinnies Van's plays within that wider network of care. 

A second session, led by Br Barry Donaghue, invited volunteers to reflect more deeply on faith and service through his workshop Come Follow Me: Practising the Way of Jesus. The session encouraged volunteers to consider how faith can be integrated into practical acts of service and human connection. 

The retreat included time for spiritual reflection and community-building, with volunteers taking part in a walk to the Nepean River lookout, breakfast in the bush and Mass at Mount Schoenstatt. The team were also thankful for the presence of Leon Ross, Nepean Regional President, who shared organisational insights and spiritual guidance at the retreat. 

For many volunteers, the experience reinforced the importance of taking time to step back from the busyness of service to reconnect with one another and the values that underpin their work. 

One volunteer reflected that the retreat allowed volunteers to better “understand the mechanics about the organisation a little better,” while also creating space to reflect on “our faith and the work in the community that we do.” 

The retreat reflects the Society’s ongoing commitment to supporting volunteers not only in practical service also in fellowship and spiritual growth. In coming together as a Vinnies Van's community, volunteers were reminded that alongside the vital practical assistance they provide others each week, their shared faith remains at the heart of the Society’s mission.