For 27 years Jim Revell has quietly been making a difference in the lives of thousands of migrants and refugees newly arrived in Australia.

His work as a volunteer tutor with migrant and refugee settlement agency AMES Australia has helped untold newcomers to find pathways to employment or education, and to build successful lives in Australia.

Jim tutors English language students at AMES’ Box Hill site.

“I assist the teacher in class. I do a lot of vocabulary work. The teacher I work with is from Egypt, so I do lots of speaking in class so the students can get used to an Australian accent,” he said.

Jim says he finds his volunteering work enjoyable and rewarding.

“I’m retired now, so volunteering fills in my time. And it’s good to see the progress of the students I work with,” he said.

“I’ve met a lot of interesting people along the way from lots of different places. I’ve worked with people from China, Japan, various parts of India and the Middle East, Germany, Italy, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Ethiopia, Eritrea and other parts of Africa. We also had a group of Karen people from Burma.  

“It has really been a window on the world. Also, I’ve probably worked with 20 or so different teachers during my time, and I’ve learnt something from all of them,” he said.

Jim said he had forged special friendships and connections with some of his students.

“I have made friends with some of my students,” he said.

“I had a Thai student who was a professional photographer in his home country. I also have an interest in photography, so we formed a friendship and we have stayed in touch.”

Jim says it is rewarding to be able to make a difference in people’s lives.

“I worked with one young woman from Vietnam who confided in me. She said: ‘this is so hard I can’t do it’.

“I told her she could progress and learn English if she just practiced. She took what I said to heart and a year later she was speaking English well.

“Another lady from China I worked with was lacking in confidence and afraid of making mistakes in her spoken English. But she was keen to get a job to support her family.

“I worked with her, and she eventually got a job in a cake shop. Box Hill is very multicultural, so she was talking to people from several different communities through her work. I think this helped her realise that everyone was striving to learn English and gave her confidence.”

Jim worked for Australia Post for 25 years and was editor of the staff magazine.

His career has informed his volunteering and has given him a deep knowledge of multicultural Australia.

“I worked at the Melbourne City Mail Centre where we had 42 different nationalities. It was a real insight into multicultural Australia,” he said.

Jim began volunteering with AMES Australia after seeing a leaflet in a local library.

“The leaflet asked, ‘can you assist in teaching refugees English?’ and it sparked my interest, so I joined up,” he said.

Jim started volunteering in 1997 and initially did six weeks training. He took early retirement in 2010.

“While I was still working, I volunteered in the evenings and after I retired, I was able to volunteer during daytime classes.”

Jim is a migrant himself. He arrived in Australia aged 35 after careers in the Royal Air Force and the Royal Mail.

“I came to Australia in 1983. My sister had migrated earlier. Initially, I was out of work for six weeks – which gave me an idea of what many migrants face when they first arrive,” he said.

His first job was as a car park attendant at the Arts Centre in Melbourne until he joined Australia Post.

His RAF career included stints on the personal staff of the UK’s Chief of Defence and a deployment to Oman during a conflict between the government and a rebel group.