Margaret Tanner

Margaret turned 100 this year and continues to arrive on a weekly basis to assist us in supporting the glaucoma community.

Margaret even manages to fit in a round of golf each week, being a foundation member of a local club. We asked Margaret to tell us a bit about herself and her time at Glaucoma Australia.

Margaret, why did you decide to volunteer your time to GA and when did you start coming?

I had a friend, Mary, who had been volunteering for Glaucoma Australia for years and she suggested I come along to help out. I was keen to volunteer somewhere and, because I had previously been diagnosed with glaucoma myself, I thought this might be a good thing to do. I started volunteering in late 2002, nearly 19 years ago.

What tasks were you given in the early days? Has much changed in what you do?

There has always been something to keep us busy and the things we do haven’t changed much. Organising the newsletter mail-outs requires a lot of envelope stuffing and there are always merchandise orders from Friends and Supporters to fill. We post a lot of Christmas cards (we do that job for over four months a year) and eye care practitioners request patient information materials - we send those out as well. We have the mundane stamping envelopes with “postage paid”, counting brochures into bundles and filling out raffle ticket stubs; but some of us are in charge of projects like organising supplies for the introductory mailing program or making sure the Post Office receives mail in the right format.

What keeps you coming back?

I enjoy the work and the company - it’s like a social outing.

Have you made long term friendships during your time at Glaucoma Australia?

Yes I have. I meet some of the people between our regular volunteer days and we do other activities together. I also exchange birthday cards and/or Christmas cards (Glaucoma Australia’s of course!) to keep in touch with those aren’t able to come in anymore.