June 2016 marked a significant milestone for Cliff Jackson, as the 91 year-old celebrated his 20th anniversary of volunteering with Vision Australia.
Originally referred as a client to the Royal Blind Society in 1996, Cliff wasted little time in becoming a volunteer and has since donated three to four days of his time each week to the organisation for the past two decades.
“I came here as a client and I heard about the volunteering side of things and I think the next day I started. I was here at 7 o’clock the next morning working in the library,” Cliff said.
Cliff’s volunteering coincided with his retirement from the aviation industry, a career which among other things saw him serve in the Royal Australian Air Force, establish an airline in Papua New Guinea and hold senior executive positions at Ansett. Despite those achievements, Cliff said the last 20 years have been extremely special to him.
“I know that the last 20 years have been the most enjoyable of my life,” he said.
Cliff’s time at Vision Australia has seen him take on numerous roles, however the one he is most proud of is his involvement with vision impairment support groups. After first establishing a group in southern Sydney, Cliff went on to establish more than 20 support groups consisting of more than 500 members across NSW. He continues to work on building and mobilising these groups today.
“My aim was to get people out and about, but without pampering them too much. Letting people keep their independence was the aim of the groups and it’s worked very well. It’s given me great pleasure to see people be independent and be out and about doing things.”
Vision Australia Chief Executive Officer, Ron Hooton said that volunteers have always been at the heart of Vision Australia and are absolutely critical to the services offered to people who are blind or have low vision.
“It was an absolute pleasure to present Cliff with his second Vision Australia Award at today's Annual General Meeting. Cliff received his first Award ten years ago and over the last two decades has made a significant contribution to the community we support. He has graciously shared his time, skills and experiences to make a real difference to so many people.”