Volunteer of the Year - Rae Watson of YMCA South Australia

Volunteer of the Year

Congratulations to Rae Watson, YMCA Australia Volunteer of the Year, a retired teacher and 2-3 times a week aqua aerobics instructor for the Y in Whyalla since 2010.

Rae Watson, YMCA SA
Rae is an Aqua Aerobics instructor at the Whyalla Recreation Centre in rural South Australia. She has been volunteering as an instructor and in several other roles with the YMCA since the organisation assumed management of the Centre in 2010. Rae has consistently volunteered 2-3 times a week instructing Aqua Aerobics for avid and loyal participants. She has been involved in Aqua Aerobics in Whyalla since the 1990s. As a retired teacher, Rae became an Aqua instructor to ensure longevity of the program in Whyalla and has been an instructor for over 20 years. She has a passion for helping others which she brought to the YMCA from her teaching days. She now passes this on to her participants by promoting mobility, movement and socialization to the aging population.

YMCA Aqua Aerobics instructors are not easy to come by in Whyalla and Rae always offers to help other instructors who want to learn. Rae, along with a number of the participants, undertook research on options for the purchase of pool mobility steps. The steps were purchased and installed and, as a result, every Aqua Aerobics participant can now access the water easily.