The CentreDonate Your TIme The Sapphire Coast Marine Discovery Centre
The Sapphire Coast Marine Discovery Centre needs your help!
Volunteers have transformed the old fish processing factory in the Wharf Building in Eden into a hands-on educational facility with aquaria showcasing local marine invertebrate species, a touch pool, a ‘science’ area with microscopes and specimens to examine, a beachcombing area and more. Displays feature information about a number of marine habitats and species, including marine mammals, seaweeds, introduced marine pest species, coastal geomorphology and much more.
We need help in a number of ways to continue improving and expanding our displays, education progarms and outdoor activity programs.
Donate your time
Our organisation relies heavily on volunteers to exist and grow. Board members all donate their time and resources voluntarily,
as do members of our various Working Groups and our Volunteer Guides. If you wish to be involved with the Centre’s activities and
feel you can contribute vital expertise, please contact the office for details on the next Volunteer recruitment program.
Volunteer Guides are provided with basic training on safety, OH&S, basic tour guiding, species identification and customer service. A Volunteer Manual has been developed to assist new volunteers through this process and our Technical Officer is on hand with additional advice to help you gain the knowledge you need to
ensure our visitors gain much from their tour of the Discovery Centre.
Occasionally volunteers are sought for specialist work such as assisting with snorkel tours and other outdoor activities. Let us know if you hold any special qualifications that may be of use, including First Aid and Bronze Medallion.
Donate your finance
As a Deductible Gift Recipient Charity, any cash donations to our organisation are fully Tax Deductible. Without financial support through donations, we cannot achieve our aims of establishing Australia’s best education and research centre focusing on the temperate marine environment.
The Discovery Centre receives no core funding from the Government but does benefit from the rental income of the Wharf Building subtenants. This income supports one full-time and one part-time wage, insurances, Crown Lease annual rent, services (electricity, water, gas), Council rates etc. A number of urgent building maintenance issues diverted finances from our aims for some time after building acquisition and continue to drain our bottom line. As new works are carried out we hope that the budget allocation for maintenance can reduce over time, allowing us to direct finances to the important Objectives of the organisation.
Donate your advice
As a growing and professionally run not-for-profit organisation, we also rely on a number of generous professionals in our day-to-day business. Vital services such as legal advice, financial management, corporate planning, professional photography and cinematography and design work are all provided either pro bono or at a much reduced rate. Without the contribution of such expertise, our organisation would not be professional outfit it has become.
If you have any specialist qualifications that may benefit the Discovery Centre, don’t hesitate to let us know!
