MILESTONE: Scott Miller, Volunteering New Zealand CEO, Wairarapa Volunteer Centre Coordinator Jo Dean, and Masterton Mayor Lyn Patterson cut the cake. PHOTOS/LYNDA FERINGA
Members of the Wairarapa Volunteer Centre in Masterton brought out their good china for tea and cake to celebrate the centre's first birthday this week.
The celebrations were launched by Masterton District councillor Gary Caffell who is chairman of Wairarapa Community Centre.
"We're absolutely delighted as to how the volunteer centre has gone," he said.
"It's been a tremendous success.
"As a centre, when you take on something new, you never know how things will work.
"We thought it would take perhaps a couple of years to get the volunteer centre up and running properly, but it's just happened so quickly.
"The numbers are excellent and there's more and more people becoming aware of the volunteer centre.
"Towns like Masterton can't exist without volunteers. It really is as simple as that.
"Because we rely on service organisations to do a lot of work in the community that councils and other organisations like that, can't do.
"It is appreciated obviously, and in volunteer jobs a lot of the times you don't get thanked, people expect you to do things, but in terms of the community here, I know people really feel good about the work you do."
Wairarapa Community Centre manager Beverley Jack said since the volunteer centre opened last August, it had recruited more than 100 volunteers.
"It has been a very busy year and it's great to see that the younger ones are getting involved and engaging with our volunteer centre.
"Our median age group is 20-29 which is a change because in our first six months that we started the centre, it was 40-49 years of age.
"Over this past year we have gone out into the community and have done lots of promotional work, and that is why we have seen that change.
"And as an example, just last week, we had five people in one day turn up here, in different stages throughout the day, and they were all in that 20-29 age bracket."
Guest speaker Laurie Williams from Volunteer Services Abroad congratulated centre members.
"There's something special about volunteers being together," he said.
"There's a spirit of generosity that comes through - a willingness to serve."
Emergency services rushed to the scene just after 2am.