Media Release
Saying Thanks To Volunteers
One third of all people in Nelson and Tasman undertook some type of volunteer work last year, providing three million
hours of voluntary work.
“That is a huge amount of time and effort,” says Katy Steele, Manager of Volunteer Nelson. “Clearly without volunteers
many community organisations would struggle to function well, if at all.”
December 5 is International Volunteers’ Day and Katy would like the community to celebrate by recognising their
volunteers.
“We’d like to see organisations maybe providing a special morning tea, or a certificate of service, or people might
simply say thanks to a neighbour who has helped them out,” she says. “It’s a day when we can cherish and value our
volunteers and say ‘well done’.”
Volunteer Nelson works to recruit volunteers, to match them with appropriate jobs, and to support organisations who
employ volunteers. They are always keen to hear from people who want to help an organisation for a few hours a week.
Katy says there is a real lack of information about trends in volunteering in the region.
“The very fact that we don’t have reliable research on this ‘social capital’ shows that we place little value on it as a
community,” she says. “Volunteering clearly has a very positive impact on GDP, and also provides a level of community
connectedness that cannot be guaranteed in the future if New Zealand follows trends from other countries.”
On November 28 Volunteer Nelson is hosting a workshop for volunteer managers. Claire Teal from Volunteer New Zealand
will help participants identify issues that affect them in their organisation. This will lead to a regional action plan
beingdeveloped to improve the experience of volunteers and the quality of their management. Anyone interested in
attending should contact katy@volunteernelson.org.nz
ENDS