Unsung Heroes: Neville Eastman is passionate about children’s education and giving back to Bunbury

Avid readers will understand the transportable magic of books — the wondrous adventures you can go on, friends you can meet and lives you can live thanks to a few words on a page. But the luxury of reading is sadly not something everyone has been taught, something only 87 per cent of the world’s population has received education in, according to the World Economic Forum. However, passionate Bunbury volunteer Neville Eastman is helping to boost this figure, spending his weeks teaching primary school students to improve their reading skills. Since 2014, Neville has been dedicating several hours of his week teaching primary school children to read and improve their literacy through the Hands Up 4 Kids organisation. HU4K is a community initiative in which volunteers go into primary schools to support young children in their endeavours to read, helping them improve out loud reading skills. Nearly a decade on with the organisation, Neville says it is an incredibly rewarding experience. “I just love the kids, they really are just magic,” he said. “I’ve always loved kids, I love these ones like my grandkids and I just feel suited to this type of thing, I really do.” Mr Eastman volunteers at both Djidi Djidi Aboriginal School and Picton Primary School — sharing a special connection with the latter as it is where both his mother and grandmother attended. “My grandmoter attended the school 130 years ago ... that’s when it was down on the corner along South West Highway,” he said. “I just love the school, they have this wonderful community and brilliant morals — be responsible, show respect, strive for success — absolutely perfect. HU4K Regional coordinator Jan Akaczonek said the program could help children with much more than their reading skills. “We often say our volunteers are supportive listeners, so as much as they help the children they also allow them the chance to have a go themselves and just providing a helping hand when they need it,” she said. “For the younger ones, who may not yet be able to read, the volunteers will sometimes read to them and follow the words with their finger then point out sight words or ask them to find words or pictures on the page after reading it through. “But it also allows children the chance to spend time with an older person which is something they might not usually have the opportunity to do, so they are learning people skills and communication in the process as well.” A long-term community patron, Neville also serves as treasurer for the Rotary Club of Bunbury-Leschenault. Having been a part of the group for 43 years, he has held several roles, including a stint as president, saying it is his long-standing history with Bunbury that urges him to give back. “I’m an original member of our club, one of the charter members,” he said. “I’m a third generation Bunbury person ... I just love giving back to the community.” Alongside his ongoing time with Rotary, Neville also received acknowledgement for 10 years of service with Aqwest last year before retiring as a board member. All these countless hours of voluntary dedication to the Bunbury community saw him awarded the Bishop Hale Medal by the Old Haleians Association, recognising his service over the years. Secretly nominated by his sons, he said the award came as a great surprise and hoped his service to Bunbury would encourage others to give back. “I just got this email about the medal and read it over thinking ‘I wonder who won this year’,” he laughed. “Would you believe it was addressed to me ... it really was one of my highlights of my life. “I’m absolutely chuffed that they thought of me for that, it really means the world. “It’s a very rewarding experience, all of it ... you meet some great people, great kids and you’re really making a difference. “It doesn’t take a lot, to do a lot.”

Unsung Heroes: Neville Eastman is passionate about children’s education and giving back to Bunbury

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