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| August 2001 |
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Social contact in new sphere
When she retired she soon realised that she missed the people around her and the camaraderie her working life had provided. So she became a volunteer and once a week she works in the offices of the Canterbury Volunteer Centre in Cashel Street and also serves as a member of the trust board. Carole says the main reasons she became a volunteer were to belong and to contribute, to meet people and make friends, and to improve the quality of community life. Throughout Canterbury hundreds of organisations involved in sport, health, community services, education, conservation, arts and recreation rely on the efforts and enthusiasm of volunteers, she says. The centre, supported by the City Council, tries to match individual interests with community groups that need volunteers. Carole Dewar’s work in the centre’s offices fulfils her needs in retirement but she says other people will volunteer for different reasons. The Canterbury Volunteer Centre opened in September 1988 and has been in its present premises for almost 10 years. Manager Ruth Gardner says the centre has registered more than 10,000 volunteers in its existence (817 in the year to March this year). She says that most people who use the centre are in some type of transition in their lives. "We are also an information and referral service and training plays a great part in our work," she says. Training courses last year included such subjects as legal matters, conflict resolution, managing volunteers, and cross-cultural communication. This is the United Nations’ International Year of Volunteers and a significant move has been the formation of a national body of volunteer centres. Ruth Gardner says the continual need for organisations to attract new volunteers means that the centre’s services that support volunteers and volunteer co-ordinators becomes even more vital. The books of the Canterbury centre have more jobs than volunteers. Many organisations would not survive with volunteers, she says. Both sexes, of all ages with all types of interests and skills, are wanted as volunteers. One Canterbury Volunteer Centre event to watch for as part of the International Year of Volunteers will be the Spring Debate in the Great Hall,Arts Centre, on Thursday 27 September. The subject will be 2001: A space for volunteers and taking part will be the Deputy Prime Minister, Jim Anderton, and writers Jim Hopkins and Joe Bennett. Opposing them will be Cr. Paddy Austin, Kathryn Dalziel and Janice Gray. Contact: Canterbury Volunteer Centre, Community House, 187 Cashel Street (366 2442 or www.cvc.org.nz). |
