Central hub for Wairarapa volunteers

NEW BEGINNING: Wairarapa Volunteer Centre volunteer Maria Hook (left), Vanisa Dhiru, CEO Volunteer NZ; Bev Jack, manager of the Wairarapa Community Centre; volunteer Vanessa Jibran; Jo Dean, co-ordinator of the Wairarapa Volunteer Centre, and volunteer Catherine Turner.

Wairarapa's first official volunteer centre opens on Monday.

The Wairarapa Volunteer Centre was launched on Thursday at the Wairarapa Community Centre, where it will also be situated.

The initiative will help people find volunteer work and non-profit organisations find volunteers.

Community centre trust chairman Gary Caffell said it had taken six months to get the project off the ground.

"It's a very big day for us, it's been a big effort to get to where we are."

He gave an example of how the service could be used - organisations who hold street appeals could find volunteers through the service.

Community centre manager Bev Jack had suggested the idea to the community centre board because she saw a need for it.

"I'm very passionate about volunteering and when I arrived I was surprised we only had one volunteer."

She said Wairarapa was one of only two places in the country without a volunteer centre and she found that organisations were looking for support but couldn't find it.

Interest was high, she said.

"People are already knocking on the door, we've had one organisation and one volunteer wanting to register."

The new coordinator for the service, Jo Dean, said Ms Jack and a team of volunteers had worked tirelessly to get it going.

Masterton mayor Lyn Patterson said it was an excellent initiative and sat well with the council's aim to connect communities.

"It will be a good point of contact for people out there who want to give their time."

Chief executive of Volunteering New Zealand, Vanisa Dhiru, said it was important for people to have different ways of being a part of a community.

"Volunteer centres are an integral part of our communities."

The centre was made possible by funding from the Mazda Foundation, Masterton District Council, and the Department of Internal Affairs.

It will be open Monday to Friday from 9am-1pm and a website will be set up soon.