The Power of Volunteers, and Why People Matter Here
If you spend enough time at Cooinda Retreats, you start to notice something.
It’s not just the open sky, the sea air, or the way the place softens people when they arrive. It’s the feeling that the site is being held rather than simply managed.
That feeling comes from people.
Over the past several months, Guy and Mel have been our volunteer caretakers at Cooinda Retreats, and it feels important to pause and say this clearly and publicly: the care, dedication, warmth, and pride they have brought to this place has been extraordinary.
They have exceeded every expectation we could reasonably place on a volunteer role. Not through grand gestures, but through consistency, presence, and a genuine sense of stewardship. Lawns tended before they needed it. Facilities cleaned as if welcoming friends. Guests greeted with calm, humour, and generosity. Problems noticed early and quietly solved. A thousand small acts that, together, make a place feel safe, cared for, and alive.
Guy and Mel have also become friends. And that, in many ways, is the Toc H story.
Volunteerism at Toc H has never been about “helping out” in a transactional sense. It has always been about belonging, responsibility, service, and shared purpose. It’s about people choosing to give time, care, and attention not because they have to, but because they believe places like this matter.
It’s important to say too that Guy and Mel stand on the shoulders of many caretakers who have come before them. Over the years, Cooinda Retreats has been cared for by a long line of generous people, each bringing their own strengths, personalities, and commitment. This is not about diminishing that history. It’s about recognising a moment where the spirit of volunteerism has been especially visible, and especially powerful.
As we continue to shape Cooinda Retreats as a Community Village, this matters more than ever.
Our model is not about scale for scale’s sake. It’s not about becoming a polished, anonymous operation. It’s about creating a place where community happens naturally, where visitors feel welcomed rather than processed, and where the values of Toc H are lived daily, not just written down.
Volunteers are not an add-on to that vision. They are central to it.
When people talk about what this site brings to the Fleurieu Peninsula, to families, to travellers, to community groups, and to those seeking rest or reconnection, they are often talking about an experience shaped by volunteers like Guy and Mel. People who notice. People who care. People who treat the place as something worth protecting.
That is the model we are continuing to build.
So to Guy and Mel, thank you. Thank you for the hours, the care, the conversations, the early mornings, the quiet pride, and the way you have embodied what Toc H stands for without ever needing to say it out loud.
Cooinda Retreats is better because you have been here.
And to anyone reading this who has ever volunteered, is volunteering now, or is quietly wondering if they might one day, know this: places like this exist because of you.