Focus on Volunteers: Whatunga Tūao Volunteer Central connects volunteers with roles

The team at Volunteer Central. From left are Audrey, Bev, Jill, Kate, Ankita, and Janetta. Absent- Grant and Lisa. Photo taken with a 1966 Marshal Press Camera

Across Foxton are volunteers from every walk of life helping the community in almost every way you can think of. In this occasional series of photo-articles, the MAVtech Museum’s photographer Jacob Brookie is using vintage cameras from the museum’s collection to show you a day in the life of our town’s volunteers.

Over a quarter of New Zealanders are volunteers – contributing at least 159 million voluntary hours each year. Statistics New Zealand estimates the annual economic value of volunteering to be over $4 billion, but the real value comes from the impact volunteers have in their communities – as well as the wellbeing of the volunteers themselves. MAVtech’s cameras visited Whatunga Tūao Volunteer Central’s meeting in Foxton’s Te Awahou Nieuwe Stroom to capture how their team supports local volunteering.

A registered charity, Whatunga Tūao Volunteer Central helps both volunteers and the organisations they work with – and one of the ways they do this is matching volunteers with their perfect role. There are over 1800 volunteers in their network, and the Whatunga Tūao Volunteer Central team match the volunteer’s interests and availability to vacant opportunities. Close to 200 organisations are Whatunga Tūao Volunteer Central Members – including Foxton groups such as MAVtech and the Foxton Beach Community Centre and Health Shuttle – and Whatunga Tūao Volunteer Central provides workshops to help these groups engage, retain and assist their volunteers. Liaising with Local Government and hosting Volunteer Recognition Events is also part of the work Whatunga Tūao Volunteer Central does.

Twice a year Whatunga Tūao Volunteer Central’s office volunteers and staff meet to discuss plans, recap past events and to get to know new members of the team. A guest from a member organisation also attends to share ideas. It is a chance for manager Kate Aplin to present the latest reports and surveys about volunteering so everyone is aware of changing trends. “People are moving to more episodic volunteering, which means they are interested in shorter term projects,” she explains. “The challenge for organisations is modifying their voluntary roles to suit these needs.”

The rising cost-of-living means that many people do not have the same amount of time to volunteer as they used to, and the costs of travelling to where they volunteer can also be a challenge.

The 1966 Marshal Press camera that photographer Jacob Brookie still uses today.

Volunteering New Zealand research – and Kate’s own experience – reveals increasing numbers of young people are interested in volunteering. Enthusiasm is no barrier – but the immoveable schedules of schooling, sport, and homework often are. “Younger volunteers are looking for flexibility in their roles” says Kate “and this impacts the types of volunteering they do”. The Whatunga Tūao Volunteer Central team say that one of their highlights is a prospective volunteer discovering a new passion – fulfilling careers have often started after time spent volunteering.

Whatunga Tūao Volunteer Central has a pop-up stall at Te Takeretanga o Kura-hau-pō on Mondays and Wednesdays from 10am-12pm – and for many of Whatunga Tūao Volunteer Central’s volunteers, their journey started at the library. Audrey visited Te Takeretanga o Kura-hau-pō in 2018 to inquire about joining a crochet group but discovered Whatunga Tūao Volunteer Central (then Volunteer Resource Centre Manawatū & Districts) instead. Volunteers Beverley and Jill also signed up at the library. But Grant took a more direct route, he walked into Whatunga Tūao Volunteer Central’s Palmerston North office on Thursday and started there as a volunteer the next day.

Volunteer Central staff, volunteers and board members with Palmerston North Town Crier Lyal Brenton at the 2024 Volunteer Recognition Event. Photo taken with a 1956 Lipca Rollop Camera

Janetta moved from Auckland to Palmerston North to retire, but said she soon found she was “going mad with nothing to do”. After volunteering at the Palmerston North Hospital and with pet therapy dogs she now helps Whatunga Tūao Volunteer Central with events and ‘Volunteer Expos’ where new volunteers and organisations meet. She loads new volunteer roles into the database and is always amazed at the variety.

Ankita joined Whatunga Tūao Volunteer Central to help settle in after moving to New Zealand. With a background in aged care and community work, she has recently become Whatunga Tūao Volunteer Central’s marketing and events coordinator. The biggest day on her calendar is the annual Volunteer Recognition Event where nominated volunteers enjoy a celebratory breakfast and an award presentation.

The meeting photographs were taken with a 1966 Marshal Press Camera. Like many cameras of its era the Marshal focuses using a rangefinder. As the camera is focused, a “ghost image” in the centre of the viewfinder moves. When it lines up with the “actual scene” behind it, the photographer knows that the photo is in focus. Big glass plate cameras and nimble Leica cameras used rangefinders for their speed and accuracy, and there are still a few digital rangefinder cameras made today.

You can find more photographs taken with vintage cameras here. To discover the range of volunteer roles and support for organisations visit here.