So when it was time to retire, it seemed natural for Ted to continue along the same path, albeit in a less time-consuming role.

Ted and wife Jocelyn, both former teachers, began volunteering with  SCARF (Strategic Community Assistance to Refugee Families) seven years ago as part of their transition to retirement.

The independent, not-for-profit organisation appealed to the couple because it had a strong social equity base and  was focused on meeting the individual family needs of the local  refugee community.

SCARF meets the  needs of families through its volunteer-based programs, which are co-ordinated through an office at Wollongong’s Picadilly Centre.

Ted’s  fields of academic study at university – anthropology and education – had given him empathy and insight into other cultures.

After completing various teaching posts in Australia and overseas, he and his family moved to the Illawarra in 1981.

Ted worked at the University of Wollongong in the education faculty for 27 years.

His professional life included trips with education students to Fiji and educational consulting work in Bangladesh, Papua New Guinea, the Maldives and Africa.

‘‘These experiences developed my understanding and sensitivity to the rough realities that many women and children have in securing the basics of education,’’ he says.

The Booths began their involvement in SCARF as family mentors, first to an African family and then to a Burmese   family who  had spent 14 years in a refugee camp on the Thai border.

‘‘The complexity of many official documents is a challenge to many refugees, as well as their mentors,’’ Ted  says.

‘‘I assisted four of my [refugee] family to pass their driving test, supported the parents to become Australian citizens and helped the father develop his own small mowing business.’’

It didn’t take Ted long to realise that securing employment was a key priority for refugee family members. 

He also knew that being able to drive was fundamental to future work opportunities and would increase mobility for families to access more recreational and cultural activities.

‘‘Most of these families didn’t have a car and there was no-one in their extended family who was a full licence-holder and able to be a supervising driver for the hours required to get a provisional licence,’’ he says.

In response, Ted developed SCARF’s L2P (learner to provisional) driving program. He secured a small second-hand car for training and, in the past five years, a team of volunteer mentors has helped 60 community members to secure their red P-plates.

The volunteers’ efforts were publicly acknowledged at the 2011 Illawarra Volunteer of the Year Awards, with the program taking out Illawarra Volunteer Team of the Year.

Ted, a big picture person, is concerned about the sustainability of community-based organisations such as SCARF that start off small and then, because of the vision, skill and passion of those involved, grow to be quite large with many programs.

SCARF  has 739 community members registered, representing 242 households, who are getting some form of support.

It runs 12 targeted programs, he says, which include homework help, family mentoring, individual language tutoring, learning to drive assistance and youth programs in sport, music and the arts.

‘‘For an entirely voluntary organisation, that’s huge,’’ Booth says. ‘‘Plus SCARF cares and that’s why the organisation has such a high profile in the refugee community. And the question is, how can that be sustained?’’

Ted believes SCARF needs a full-time paid manager to deal with the scale and the complexity of the programs and the constant identification of refugee needs and how to respond to those needs.

In the past, those responsibilities have largely fallen to Sharyn Mackenzie, SCARF founder, secretary and program co-ordinator.

Ted says Mackenzie, who puts in between 60 and  70 hours of voluntary time each week, would be unable to continue the heavy workload indefinitely.

‘‘I saw the need for the development of sustainability and the continuity of leadership – some sort of succession plan,’’ he says.

‘‘That goal in the past two years really hasn’t been achieved and that is still a work in progress within the organisation.’’

Ted, who  had spinal surgery five weeks ago, recently stepped down from his role as committee  president.

‘‘I want to leave space for other people who want to take forward the excellent work that SCARF does,’’ he says.

He  will continue his association with SCARF and his role as L2P program manager.

‘‘Being a SCARF volunteer has two great pay-offs,’’ he says.

‘‘It has been very meaningful to Jocelyn and myself.

‘‘Humanitarian refugees and their families appreciate the support for their specific concerns and you can learn so much about the culture and their life journey as a tutor, mentor and friend in what initially for them is a very complex world.’’

He  says it is disappointing to hear the ill-informed views of some in the community on the need to support the resettlement process for permanent resident-status refugees, who have arrived under the government’s humanitarian visa program.

Most of these refugees were living in desperate conditions for between five and 20 years before coming to Australia.

‘‘I often start the explanations this way: ‘This family just spent 15 years in a refugee camp and all of their children were born into a camp environment and now they have come to this new country and the government support is very good. But the process of adaptation and the expectations of the new community is complex’.

‘‘Some people get it but others have intractable views which are often ill-informed.’’

 * A new L2P (learner to provisional driver program) mentor workshop and appreciation dinner will be held at the SCARF Centre, Level 1 Piccadilly Centre, Wollongong, on Thursday, November 21, from 5pm to 7.30pm. To help organisers confirm numbers,  please ring 42271600 by November 19 if you’re interested in attending.