Barnie leaves Vinnies – and a legacy of good works

Barnie van Wyk’s passion for Vinnies – and for his adopted home of Canberra – is palpable. The 60-year-old South African-born barrister on Friday leaves as chief executive officer of the St Vincent de Paul Society Canberra/Goulburn. He was at the helm for almost five years, steering the organisation through some mighty crises, from delivering aid to people affected by the South Coast bushfires in 2019-20 to the all-consuming and still-not-finished challenge of COVID. Mr van Wyk is taking a step back but vowing to never leave the community sector – or the national capital. Leaving Vinnies feels “dreadful”. “Because it’s my passion. People are my passion,” he said. “I love Canberra and I love the people here. It is extremely humbling for me to read the letters I have received, the emails. The phone calls I have received. Every single day. I’m just blown away. So many ministers have sent letters. That makes you feel like you have done something.” And then he takes a moment and becomes a little emotional. It may be the first time he has taken stock after putting in so many hard yards. “I will never be able to not be part of this sector, that I can’t do. But I will tone down,” he said, with a smile. Vinnies Canberra/Goulburn is a big concern, both geographically and logistically, with operations in 19 towns across much of southern NSW. It covers Canberra to Goulburn,; Braidwood; the South Coast through to Moruya as well as Tumut, Lake Cargelligo, Temora and Yass. Vinnies Canberra/Goulburn also has 2300 staff and volunteers,and during Mr van Wyk’s tenure, has seen its revenue base grow to $30 million annually to ensure its financial viability. Only 26 per cent of Vinnies funding comes from government grants, the balance through fundraising. Most of the income – 55 per cent – comes through the 27 Vinnies charity shops in the region. “The growth we have had in those shops has been enormous,” he said. The Vinnies shops stayed opened during the last lockdown in Canberra because they were a place of refuge also for many vulnerable people. “They walk in that shop and walk around for literally two hours, it’s a safety thing,” Mr van Wyk said. “This time we couldn’t do it. I tried to battle for it, for them to open, but it was a bit difficult for the government to be able to let us to do that. And that’s a shortfall. If people can’t go to the library, can’t go to the park, where do you go?” Mr van Wyk during his tenure oversaw multiple programs, helping people from the homeless to refugees, and introduced new ones including permanent housing for disadvantaged individuals. He also helped Vinnies increase its CEO Sleepout fundraising income by 60 per cent over the last five years, making the ACT the highest fundraising income per capita state in the nation, at seven times the national average. The 2021 CEO Sleepout event culminated in a record-breaking $1 million , the highest amount raised in the event’s 12-year history. More importantly, perhaps, it kept Canberra’s movers and shakers engaged with the good works of Vinnies beyond sleeping rough one night in winter. As society President John Feint said: “Under Barnie’s leadership, the society has become a stronger, more capable, community-based and governance-focused organisation”. Mr van Wyk and his wife Annette and their children, Reon and Ane, arrived in Canberra 2003. They had visited Australia a couple of years earlier, seen a lot of cities, but fell in love with Canberra. A chief executive or managing director for major finance companies, Mr van Wyk wanted more experience internationally. Canberra offered that and more. “It was the lifestyle, absolutely the lifestyle,” he said. “When I saw the people walking and riding bikes and the open-ness, I thought to myself, ‘That’s how I grew up’ and what an amazing opportunity for children to have. I think it was the opportunity to live. “And during my years here, I have grown so close to the Canberra community. I love the Canberra community. It is unique. The engagement I’ve had with government to sponsors to donors to philanthropists, everyone, we are so unique and I don’t think we celebrate that enough.” Over the years, Mr van Wyk managed the welfare and membership arm for the Royal Australian Navy for almost a decade, helped set up the first trial sites for the National Disability Insurance Scheme and worked with the Department of Human Services before joining Vinnies in early 2017, a role he has cherished. He found Canberra was small enough to connect and big make a difference and he felt an acceptance straight away from people who wanted to help him help others. “I feel there is a greater care factor here for people doing it tough, I really do,” he said. “People in other cities give their money or their donations, Canberrans give themselves. It’s like, ‘What can I do?’. And that is very important to me as a person and that’s why I feel so comfortable here.” The van Wyk family are settled in Gungahlin and the kids, now adults both studying masters in Brisbane, went to Gold Creek Primary School, then Burgmann College and the Australian National University. “They are as Australian as could be,” their father said, with a laugh. It’s onto the next chapter. But what Mr van Wyk will take with him is an appreciation of the people who power the humanity of Vinnies – the volunteers on the Night Patrol van offering hot tea and conversation to someone sleeping rough; the friendly volunteers in the charity shops; the staff who deliver programs that make a tangible difference every day to the lives of those who need help in the nation’s capital. “The Vinnies team spares no effort in ensuring that anyone who looks to us for help receives the very best care and support, whether they are assisted at Vinnies outreach services like Street to Home or Night Patrol, local Vinnies drop-in centres like Blue Door or any of our Vinnies shops,” he said. In order to continue this momentum and build on Vinnies’ long-standing legacy of service, Michelle Colefax, the current deputy CEO of St Vincent de Paul Society Canberra/Goulburn has been appointed as acting CEO. Mr van Wyk was farewelled by many this week, including Neville Tomkins, Chief Commissioner of Scouts NSW and long-time supporter of the society. “Barnie has been an inspiration to us all,” Mr Tomkins said. “Through his servant leadership, advocacy and compassion, Barnie and the Vinnies team have made a genuine difference to the lives of so many Canberrans.” Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: