Volunteers are the heart of Trash Hero and the movement’s driving force.
They organise cleanups, educate kids about plastic pollution, and build essential community ties – all in their free time. We want to ensure that Trash Hero volunteers are well-equipped to engage their communities in reducing plastic and feel confident in their skills to lead a successful chapter. To do this, we host a biannual volunteer training workshop – Trash Hero Family Meetings.
In October and November, we went to Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, and brought together leaders of our Trash Hero chapters for the second time this year. In total, 96 participants attended from 51 chapters in 4 countries.
We host Family Meetings in countries with a high concentration of active chapters. Chapter leaders are invited to attend, free of charge, and are provided with the opportunity to learn new skills or refresh ones they gained at previous Family Meetings. The meetings help participants strengthen their relationships and support systems, and the local knowledge shared at the events is used to help develop Trash Hero programmes and goals.
The training was attended by a mixture of old and new chapter leaders. Throughout 2022 there have been many new Trash Hero chapters that have started in Southeast Asia, and there have also been many that have been reactivated since COVID restrictions were lifted.
Throughout each weekend, we provided leadership training, information about the importance of zero waste and how to share their knowledge with others at their cleanups. There was the chance to develop skills, such as training their regular volunteers and building their core team. One of the workshops that received the best feedback was the opportunity to develop a strategy for their chapters, examine their goals and dreams for their community with regards to waste, and create a plan that will see these come to life.
There were also team-building activities, the opportunity for discussions and feedback and – of course – a cleanup!
The feedback we received from participants was fantastic, and, as always, we can’t wait to see everyone again next year!
Find the full details for each location below
Trash Hero Indonesia Family Meeting
Date: 14-16 October 2022
Location: Bali, Indonesia
Participants: 67
Chapters: 36
Trash Hero Thailand Family Meeting
Date: 28-30 October 2022
Location: Pattaya, Thailand
Participants: 23
Chapters: 9
Thank you to the CFLI for their generous contribution towards this event
Trash Hero Malaysia Family Meeting
Date: 4-6 November 2022
Location: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Participants: 11
Chapters: 6
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