‘It’s filled a hole in my life’

They are there for myriad reasons, but they all give the same vital and valued resource – their time. Sonya Holm speaks to workers at Whatunga Tūao Volunteer Central about what their service gives them.

Social distancing and volunteering make for uncomfortable bedfellows. Compassion, conversation, community – all rely on human connection.

Covid has made life difficult for Whatunga Tūao Volunteer Central, a hub connecting people eager to lend a hand with organisations in need of help. It operates out of Hancock Community House in Palmerston North.

‘‘It’s OK to go and meet people face to face’’ is the message manager Kate Aplin is keen to get through after volunteering inquiries dropped off as the pandemic soared.

Fewer offers to volunteer and cancelled events led to a shift towards ‘‘responsive volunteering’’, where the agency delivered Covid supplies, groceries, prescriptions and rapid antigen tests to those isolating at home.

But now, she says, people are just wanting to connect again.

As well as delivering Covid supplies, cuppa-and-chat sessions are held in Dannevirke, Feilding and Palmerston North libraries, and the Foxton Beach Community Centre.

Aplin says one recent session in Feilding encouraged a person to leave the house for the first time in aweek.

‘‘They saw the event advertised and came in, and it was the first time she’d been out of the house for 10 days, and she signed up as a volunteer and started doing some deliveries.’’

There are more than 1500 volunteers on the books, of all ages and levels of commitment. They include fulltime employees juggling children and volunteer work through to retirees with more time to spare.

Aplin has been the manager for nearly three years and has a background in nursing, mental health, leadership, and construction project management.

In the time she has been with Volunteer Central, about 10 volunteers have started then gone on to paid employment, and one has set up their own business.

Aplin says volunteering gives them confidence, skills and networks to go on to employment, study or set themselves up.

Part of the matching process is to get to know people and what they might need.

‘‘While we have some stalwarts, we also have people who don’t necessarily come here knowing what they want, and we recognise what they might need, and provide opportunities tomeet that need.’’

Raghad Abbas, 40, is Palestinian and was born in Iraq. In 2005, she travelled from Iraq to Syria, then on to Cyprus, before living in a refugee camp in Indonesia where an application to the UnitedNations resulted in her being sent to New Zealand.

‘‘It’s been a very hard journey,’’ she says.

When she arrived onNew Zealand’s shores five years ago, two volunteers from the Red Cross helped her resettle in Palmerston North, providing help, support and friendship.

‘‘They did a great job for us. They helped us so much. They are still with us and are friends.’’

The positive experience inspired Abbas to become a volunteer.

She is also completing an internship as a UCOL student completing a graduate diploma in productionmanagement and operations, and is undertaking a quality assurance project for Volunteer Central.

Grant Smith, 76, who is quick to clarify ‘‘I’m not the mayor’’, has a background in public service and says the government investing in him over the years means he has the skills to give back.

He walked into the office of Whatunga Tūao one Thursday offering to be a volunteer and was told he could start the next day.

He started on a Friday, a slot then became free on a Tuesday, and soon he was thereMonday, too.

‘‘So now I’m maybe Monday, Boy Tuesday and Man Friday,’’ he says with a laugh.

‘‘It filled a hole in my life ... we have so much laughter and fun. I’m not sure what I would dowithout it,’’ he says.

Scott Groves has a spinal injury and suffers from chronic pain. Volunteering offers him psychological and physical pain relief.

‘‘The benefit and the good that you get [from volunteering] is better than any pill.’’

At the end of 2021, Groves saw an ad for the essentialwellbeing volunteer role, delivering Covid supplies – oximeters, food and prescriptions – to those isolating at home.

He wanted a change from his previous role, but was also motivated by the effect of Covid on friends.

‘‘I’ve lost friends overseas who died at home. That was my initial driving factor.’’

Groves enjoys the flexibility of choosing days and hours to contribute. The reaction from clients he makes deliveries for and the variety of duties fuel his selfworth.

He recently turned 55 and was happy to work on his birthday.

Carla Renata, 37, is from Brazil and moved to Palmerston North when her husband got a scholarship at Massey University.

Renata speaks highly of the help she received from the community when she arrived.

She became a volunteer to improve her English, give back to the community, and gain work skills in New Zealand.

‘‘Theway we work in Brazil is different from New Zealand, and I needed to have this experience.’’

Renata started as a volunteer and is now a paid employee, handling socialmedia marketing for Volunteer Central.

After working in busy paid roles, a shift from Auckland to Palmerston North found Janetta Mandeno, 75, alone during the day and without a sense of purpose.

‘‘I very quickly realised I was starting to spiral into depression, so volunteering was a lifesaver.’’

Every Thursday, Mandeno volunteers in the office where she loves seeing all the different roles come through.

‘‘It can be quite dangerous sitting in the office doing admin because every five minutes I’m ‘ooh, I’d love to do that’.’’

Among her many roles are being a hospital ‘‘trolley dolly’’ for almost eight years, taking her bichon frise to rest homes for pet therapy, and she is about to become a ‘‘friend of the emergency department’’.

Volunteer Central holds an annual volunteer recognition event in June, and it’s on the lookout for more sponsors, be it through money or products such as coffee vouchers.

Aplin says people keen to volunteer need only click the ‘‘register now’’ button on the Volunteer Central website.

‘‘It will send us an emailwith their phone number and email address, andwe will ring them and say ‘let’s get to know you’.’’