Resilience & Adaptability Award
Winner: Family Works Foodbank
The Family Works Foodbank is Dunedin’s busiest foodbank, supporting those in the Dunedin community who are grappling with the impact of hardship and food insecurity by distributing between 350-450 food parcels per month, a number now on the increase due to cost of living inflation.
During COVID lockdowns, food banks were essential services that remained open with an exponentially increased workload but at the same time had to limit volunteers coming in to help. Staff adapted to wear multiple hats and continue serving the community needs with larger parcels, delivery and a larger client load.
After lockdown, the majority of volunteers wanted to work at the foodbank however due to their ages and vulnerabilities they were not able to. Creativity kicked in and volunteers took large bags of flour, rice, etc. home to break them down into parcel size packets for staff to collect and use at the foodbank. Through this adaptability, volunteers were still giving back and simultaneously the foodbank was made more resilient.
Highly Commended: Age Concern Accredited Visiting Service
Age Concern Otago’s Accredited Visiting Service reduces loneliness and social isolation amongst older people through matched volunteers who provide friendship and companionship on a regular basis. During the pandemic, referrals greatly increased as many clubs and programmes discontinued and people felt afraid to leave their homes, thereby losing the social connections they once had.
At the same time as this skyrocketing demand, providing the service had to be reimagined due to social distancing and safety concerns. Age Concern Otago staff adapted to these challenging circumstances by training and supporting their volunteers in phoning folk instead of visiting and in following the rapidly evolving COVID levels and protocol settings.
Benefits of their resilience in keeping this program going include improved overall health and happiness for both clients and volunteers, as demonstrated by direct feedback. “I could not be more delighted with my visitor. She brings intellectual stimulation and love into my life,” says a client, while a volunteer describes the impact on her as: “What started out as a ‘task’ for me, has turned out to be so rewarding. I love my weekly visits.”
Finalist: Foster Hope Otago
100% volunteer run and funded, Foster Hope Otago provides support to foster children, children within the care system, and children whom social workers are working to keep with their family. They do this by providing practical support in the form of essential items, such as new PJs and toiletries, which also wrap these children in emotional support by knowing someone cares about them.
Foster Hope Otago has made diversity and inclusion a major priority when considering their volunteers. Not only do they have jobs available for children who wish to help, their workspace has easy access and both printed and braille labelled containers allowing sighted and unsighted people to participate. No volunteer will be turned away and all are welcomed with options on ways to help that can fit into their schedule.
Collaborative Volunteering Award
Winner: Okāhau Dune Project
The Okahau Dune Project involves restoring native pikao (pingao) grasses to the foredunes at Okahau (Warrington) beach, but the effort contributes more than its positive environmental outcomes. A parallel goal is to provide opportunities for groups and individuals across the community and region to work together collaboratively in a way that is inclusive, educational, and meaningful for all involved.
That the entire project was built around collaboration is obvious when you consider that the pikao plants were grown by inmates in the nursery at the Otago Correctional, then transported by the DCC while the Social Impact Studio and UniCrew brought out student volunteers to join locals of all stripes for the planting days, during which the Warrington Surf Life Saving Club opened its clubrooms and local caterers provided kai. The project also had ongoing help and support from Kati Huirapa Runaka ki Puketeraki and local primary schools from around Blueskin Bay with art by the kids used on educational signage around the project.
Highly Commended: Family Works Foodbank (featured above)
Finalist: Age Concern Accredited Visiting Service (featured above)
Transformative Volunteering Award
Winner: The Buddy Programme
The Buddy Programme has been part of the local Dunedin community for 30 years this year. In that time, thousands of young people from our community have reaped the rewards of having a mentoring relationship while Adult Buddy volunteers are enjoying the time spent with their young buddy as much, if not more, than they are.
This enriching experience and immensely positive impact on volunteers’ lives is what won The Buddy Programme a finalist position in the Transformative Volunteering Award category.
While young people gain confidence and encounter new and exciting things they may not have otherwise, the Adult Buddy volunteers experience personal growth as they undergo training and invest in the positive development of the young people they are matched with. Volunteers gain empathy and compassion for the challenges facing their young buddy, which broadens their perspective and adds to their own life through a reciprocal relationship that grows and deepens over time.
Finalist: Life Matters Suicide Prevention Trust
Life Matters Suicide Prevention Trust works in the Dunedin community (and nationwide) to provide support to those who are at risk of, or affected by, suicide. Their work encompasses suicide prevention, intervention and postvention including supporting people at risk of suicide and their whānau, providing community education, increasing community awareness, reducing stigma, providing bereavement support, and advocacy.
Volunteers are selected based on their caring nature and diversity in terms of age, gender, culture, ethnicity, and disability is highly sought and valued. The team thrive on the philosophy of ‘together as one’, working together to achieve one goal – reduce suicide in Aotearoa. The volunteers are incredibly empathetic and understanding of each other due to the nature of the work they do and their shared passion for mental health. These peer volunteer relationships paired with the support relationships developed through the work, transform the volunteers’ lives and growth experiences.
Diversity and Inclusion Award
Winner: Tomahawk Smaills Beachcare Trust
Tomahawk Smaills Beachcare Trust has been focusing on the sand dune ecosystem in Ocean Grove Reserve for over two decades. Alongside their key goals of restoration and regeneration of duneland forest and long term protection against erosion, they place a key emphasis on working closely with the community and providing tailored opportunities for older volunteers and those with intellectual or other disabilities.
To ensure a welcoming, supporting environment, the Trust runs specific weekly sessions for members of the community who have behavioural issues and/or differing physical and intellectual abilities and may be assisted by carers, the Trust nursery manager, and other volunteers. These offer an outdoor environment of physical work and material outcomes that are particularly enjoyable for these volunteers, yet are not often not available to them.
Nursery manager Nicole Bezemer perfectly sums up the spirit of the trust: “Focusing on outcomes rather than outputs is central to our operation. Having volunteers that feel respected, included, valued, and fulfilled is always prioritized. We are not looking to measure how many plants are potted up, we are rather looking to ensure an enjoyable and constructive volunteer session for each individual.”
Finalist: Foster Hope Otago (featured above)
