For Gerard Nagle, helping it happen was one of the most emotional moments of his time as a volunteer. 

He was part of the Disabled Surfing Association team who helped the young quadriplegic woman into her wetsuit and onto the surfboard for three rides on the waves. 

“The smile on her face and her parents’ faces and the carer’s faces and the support staff’s faces – that’s why I volunteer,” Mr Nagle said. 

Community service has always been a part of the Ballarat school bus driver’s life.

”I was raised in a culture of volunteering. My father volunteered at the church, at the footy club, at the local CFA, and the Lions when I was a child. My children volunteer now too,” he said.

Mr Nagle volunteers with the L2P learner driver program, Child and Family Services, children’s charity Variety and Disabled Surfing Association. He described becoming involved in these organisations as an easy decision, reflective of his passion for helping youth. 

“What frustrates me is how easy it is to knock kids and young people. Instead let’s see if we can be apart of the solution not make the problem worse,” Mr Nagle said.

Mr Nagle helps disadvantaged young people who may not have access to a car or an adult who drives a car learn to drive as a volunteer with L2P.

As a CAFS mentor he spends time each week with a 16-year-old boy in foster care teaching life skills and providing guidance. 

“He has been in and out of the system all of his life and had never learnt to ride a push bike. So we taught him, and the smile on his face the first time he rode a bike around Victoria Park was just priceless,” Mr Nagle said. 

“When I was first introduced to him he was semi reclusive in his room. Now he rides a bike, has his L plate, has joined a sporting club and is becoming motivated to find a job.

“Because you are a volunteer not being paid to work with young people you can have a different relationship with them –  you are not a care worker, you are not a youth justice worker, you are just a volunteer.

“When I was a child my family and the people around my family helped raise and mentor me. They say it takes a village to raise a child and I really do believe that.”

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