When Canberra tech heads joined the Vinnies Night Patrol
OPC CEO Clinton Henderson with Vinnies Night Patrol Team Leader Di Brookes and OPC Account Manager Mayuka Gunaratne on their volunteering night. Photo: OPC.
Canberra IT firm OPC has been helping Vinnies upgrade their tech for years, but last month, a scheduled “look and see” session unexpectedly turned into boots on the ground — and an eye-opening experience.
OPC CEO Clinton Henderson and Account Manager Mayuka Gunaratne expected to be quiet observers, but when a couple of scheduled volunteers had to pull out, Vinnies Night Patrol Team Leader Di Brookes didn’t miss a beat.
“I need three people per shift, and if I don’t have enough people in my van for the night, I can’t go out. That means people are waiting for a van that doesn’t show up,” she says.
“I know Clinton’s the CEO of OPC, but in my van, he’s Joe Blow, there to help. So I put them to work. And honestly, they smashed it out of the park.
“I told them ‘do this, do that’, and gave them a bit of gaff. It’s just playful, and the companions love it when they see us having a bit of fun at each other’s expense. It makes them feel like they belong.”
After packing the two Night Patrol vans, the team set off to deliver the service Vinnies provides seven nights a week. Each van makes two stops — one to Queanbeyan and Dickson, the other to Veterans Park and a newly scheduled stop at the Belconnen interchange.
“We choose the stops based on greatest need, and word has really gotten out at Belconnen,” Di says.
On any given night, the team serves between five and 25 “companions” — people in need of their care. The vans carry food, drinks and essentials like blankets and winter clothes, depending on what arrives from the Vinnies Mitchell warehouse that week.
“We don’t always have what they need, but if we have it, it’s theirs,” Di says. Warm, artless, and salt-of-the-earth, she has become the familiar face of Vinnies Night Patrol, with an uncanny knack for putting people at ease.
“I probably make the worst coffee in the world, but I serve it with a smile, and our companions are always so appreciative.”
Volunteers pack the van with food, drinks and other essentials before heading out to meet companions in four locations. Photo: OPC.
While a hot drink and a blanket are vital on a freezing Canberra night, Mayuka notes that those ready smiles and acknowledgments of shared humanity are the volunteers’ most powerful tools.
“Di and the other volunteers were so inspiring,” Mayuka says.
You can’t help but admire their compassion and dedication. It’s how they interacted with the companions as well; they knew them by name, knew exactly what they needed, and more than just providing material things, it was human connection, a conversation, a laugh, asking how their day had been and pivoting that conversation based on what they may be going through.
While the van was out, other OPC team members visited the Queanbeyan Night Podz (formerly the “Sleepbus”) — a safe vehicle offering overnight beds and laundry services courtesy of Orange Sky.
The experience has levelled up OPC’s partnership with Vinnies. By trading tech support for packing vans and serving hot drinks, the IT company brought its company mission of “technology for good” to life.
“We were originally there just to get a look and feel of what night patrol is all about, because over the course of our partnership, so many of our staff had expressed an interest in volunteering with Vinnies,” she says.
“The idea was we’d get to see how the volunteers operate, and the issues they have, so we could better serve them.
“Now, we have staff wanting to continue assisting night patrol volunteering.”
Their ready smiles and human connection are as appreciated as the goods the Vinnies Night Patrol volunteers hand out. Photo: OPC.
Funded through the generosity of individual donors, organisations and fundraising events and appeals such as the annual CEO Sleepout, the Night Patrol runs from around 6 pm to 9 pm, depending on how many companions use the service.
“We’re not out all hours trawling for companions,” Di says. “We’re there at set times and places, and it runs like a well-oiled machine.”
For many volunteers, the work is no chore.
“I can finish up at my day job and be really tired, cold and miserable, and all I want to do is go home. But the moment I get to the kitchen, I instantly get my second wind,” she says.
“I know this work matters. Sometimes, it’s the first human interaction or eye contact our companions have had all day. We don’t care who they are or why they need us. We’re just there to help.
“Honestly, I think I get more out of it than anyone else. It’s a hit of natural endorphins like no other.”
