Trish Carling has been a familiar face at our ACT Support Group meetings for over a year now. She began volunteering for MND NSW in 2024, keen to support people living with MND in the local area after retiring from work and following her experience as a volunteer in palliative care.
“I have been a volunteer with Palliative Care ACT (PCACT) since 1996. Since retiring from full-time work three years ago, part of my role with PCACT has involved helping out at the MND Clinic run by ACT Health, in Bruce, ACT,” Trish said.
“MND Advisor Karen Keith is part of the team at the MND Clinic, and when Karen told me about the bi-monthly MND Support Group she runs, I was keen attend and to support her as the Facilitator. I joined MND NSW as volunteer in October 2024.”
Trish is a valuable member of the team, welcoming attendees to the session with refreshments, and ensuring lovely décor provides an inviting space to hold Support Group meetings.
“I currently help out with the MND Support Group meetings held in Deakin,” Trish said.
“I help set up the room, provide flowers for the table, contribute to morning tea, welcome attendees, serve tea and coffee and snacks, and support the MND Advisor and Facilitator (Karen) during meetings.”
Trish was inspired to join MND NSW as a volunteer after assisting many people living with MND during her time volunteering in palliative care.
“I have been a palliative care since 1996, largely working at Clare Holland House in Canberra, and had met a number of people living with MND and their families. Since retiring from full-time work, I was keen to help support people living with MND, and their families,” she said.
“As timing would have it, the volunteer who had been supporting the MND Clinic had decided to retire, so I started my volunteer work with the MND Clinic as soon as I finished work. To make myself available to support people at MND Support Group Meetings, I joined MND NSW as a volunteer.”
Trish said she will continue to volunteer with MND NSW ‘because I have found that I enjoy working with people who are living with MND, their families, and their carers’.
“I am able to do simple things to make someone’s day a little better – welcome a person to a meeting, provide reassurance, find someone a comfortable seat, provide a cold glass of water, make a hot cup of tea or coffee or offer something sweet. These are simple things that aren’t hard to do,” she said.
Having been a volunteer for many years, including some of that time with us here at MND NSW, Trish is well aware of the vital role volunteers like her have within their local area.
“I think volunteering is a great way to give back to the community, which is important to me. Even when I was working full-time, I found it was good for my mental health, and I definitely get more out of volunteering than I put in,” Trish said.
“I really enjoy making people feel at ease – particularly if it’s their first Clinic or first Support Group. Brightening someone’s day is not a difficult thing to do – I’ve found that it’s the simple things that are important.”
For Trish, working with families facing MND and local MND Advisor Karen are the highlights of her role, and there are plenty of positives for others wishing to volunteer for MND NSW.
“It is a very satisfying thing to do, and you will definitely be appreciated,” Trish said.
“Aside from working with MND patients and their families, I very much enjoy working with MND Advisor Karen Keith. She is incredibly professional in the way she approaches her job, and at the same time, she is also a very skilled communicator. Karen is kind, compassionate and works hard for MND patients and their families – I am learning a lot from her.”
If you would like to join Trish in assisting MND NSW, contact Marcia at
