Lok Kin Kevin Au is a second-year nursing student at UTS and a graduate of the UTS SOUL Award, an extra-curricular volunteering and social justice leadership program for UTS students. Through the SOUL program, Kevin has recorded 380 hours of volunteering which he has managed alongside his study and unpaid nursing placements.
Kevin first began volunteering at school in Hong Kong with the Red Cross and spent more than 8 years doing humanitarian and first aid work. His volunteering continues to be inspired by the principles of the Red Cross – humanity, impartiality, neutrality, independence, voluntary service, unity, and universality.
In 2022, he moved to Australia to start his nursing degree and looked for local volunteering opportunities.
He began volunteering with St John Ambulance Sydney University Division in June 2022 and progressed from the first aider to the first responder in just 4 months. As a first responder, Kevin can provide higher levels of care and more drugs, as well as supervising the other volunteer first aiders. He has recently been promoted to event coordinator, where he is starting to deal with clients and quotes.
Kevin has used the skills and experience developed through St John in other volunteer roles. He has volunteered as a team leader at the 2022 Sydney Running Festival and the Real Insurance Harbour 5K & 10K, raising money for the Australian Cancer Research Foundation. He has also volunteered at VIVID Sydney for the past two years, first as a way finder and this year as a team leader. In 2022, he received an award from Destination NSW for most outstanding wayfinder.
Kevin remains connected to the Red Cross. He has been involved in the UTS Red Cross Society general committee, organising events and fundraising. And he still volunteers with his high school Red Cross in Hong Kong, running training and operations from Australia via Zoom.
In the 12 months Kevin has volunteered with St John Ambulance he has provided first aid to many people. He finds it very meaningful to help people in need and at their most vulnerable by providing them with support and care.
Kevin has also provided volunteering management/leadership support at several fundraising events, which have helped the events to run smoothly and successfully. An example of this is the 2022 Sydney Running Festival, where there was a shortage of volunteers, so Kevin made the decision to redeploy volunteers to the most important locations to cover the event.
Growing up in Hong Kong, Kevin lived with his grandparents, who had complex health needs. It was this experience of seeing the impact of the help and support they received from volunteer health workers which inspired him to become a nursing student and volunteer to help people too.
Through volunteering, Kevin has also made friends and connections across organisations and cultures. He moved to Australia in 2022 by himself and has found a family and community in the people he volunteers with.
At just 19, Kevin is an impressive young volunteer leader.