Our volunteers
The Friends of the Heysen Trail has hundreds of dedicated volunteers, each vital to maintaining and developing the Trail. Learn about what our volunteers do, how to become a volunteer, and the many benefits of being a volunteer.
Meet the people behind the Friends of the Heysen Trail
The Friends of the Heysen Trail is a not-for-profit, volunteer-run organisation with over 1,200 members. We’re enthusiastic about exploring and enjoying the Heysen Trail and are committed to giving back to our community through our volunteer program.
It’s only with the help of our dedicated and generous volunteers that we’re able to undertake Trail development and maintenance, promote the Trail, run our walking program, and keep our office and shop running.
We appreciate and value every member who becomes a volunteer and gives their energy, time and skill to help the Friends and the Trail.
Get in touch if you love hiking and want to know about our current volunteer opportunities.
What do our volunteers do?
Maintaining 1,200 km of Trail is no easy task, particularly as much of it passes through remote areas away from main roads. Working in partnership with the Department of Environment and Water (DEW), Wandergruppe Bushwalkers and Retire Active SA Bushwalkers, our volunteers ensure the Trail is maintained so that hikers from all over the world can enjoy a world-class adventure.
Trail development volunteers are in many ways “the face of the Trail”. Organised into groups of Section Leaders and their teams, they “adopt” areas of the Trail (there are 61 areas in total), get to know the landholders, monitor the condition of the Trail and carry out important maintenance. This includes tasks like hazard identification, replacing trail markers, and clearing away undergrowth.
Our shed volunteers help our maintenance teams by fabricating larger items including stiles, shelters and water tanks, which are then installed where they’re needed along the Trail by our hardworking groups of volunteers.
If you’d like to get involved with Trail maintenance, contact us to speak with our Trail Development Committee. You can also contact us to report a safety or maintenance problem on the Trail.
The Friends run an extensive walking program for our members, with most walks taking place between April and November to avoid the Fire Danger Season. Some of our volunteers help members to explore the entire Trail as part of an End-to-End group, usually spread over six years. Others guide single day walks along parts of the Trail.
The Heysen Trail passes through areas with significant Aboriginal heritage, including rock art and other cultural sites, and the Friends explore opportunities for sharing First Nations stories along the Trail to enhance the understanding and appreciation of the land’s history.
Although our walks are mainly focused on the Heysen Trail, we also offer short walks and multi-day hikes in other areas including in the Willunga Basin Trail and on the Lavender Trail.
Our walk program is run by Walk Leaders and their teams, and is managed by our Walks Committee. Contact us if you’d like to get involved in volunteering as part of our guided walks program.
At the Friends’ office in the Adelaide city, our volunteers answer enquiries, maintain our website, manage our shop and support our committees.
Other volunteer-run committees include our:
- Promotions, Marketing & Membership Committee
- Finance Committee
- Office Committee
- Honorary Membership Committee
- Reconciliation Committee
The benefits of volunteering with the Friends
Beyond knowing you’re giving back to your community, there are extra benefits for people who take up volunteer opportunities with the Friends:
- Members who have contributed 40 or more volunteer hours in the previous year or who have made other significant contributions receive a free Golden Boots Pass as well as a National Parks Pass that allows you free access to most National Parks in South Australia. Read more about the Golden Boots Pass.
- Volunteers receive invitations to exclusive events for Friends of the Heysen Trail held throughout the year.
- Volunteers are also eligible for free safety and first-aid training, insurance (for maintenance volunteers), specialist equipment, vehicle expenses and accommodation costs.
Become a volunteer
Our volunteers come from our pool of members, so if you’d like to volunteer with us, first make sure that you’re a current member of the Friends of the Heysen Trail. Once you’re a member, you can contact any of the Committee Coordinators via our office to talk about current volunteering opportunities.
How the Friends support our volunteers
We value and support our volunteers who give their time and skills to assist the Friends and enable people to enjoy the Heysen Trail. We believe it is important to support and acknowledge our volunteers.
You can read our Volunteer Support Policy to learn about the many ways we recognise and support our volunteers.