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Inclusive volunteering – keeping it safe!
The generosity and compassion of the people in our region has been tested more times than we would have liked over the last 12 years – thankfully though, that gifting of time keeps on happening in both good times and not so good!
However, with that generosity we also are aware of the challenges in those unplanned for events of keeping everyone safe, and structures are needed in order to ensure that continues to happen.
Our regular volunteer teams, with community organisations, are able to go through inductions and trainings, and ongoing training where necessary.
The question for our ‘volunteers on the day’ who come gifting their time and skills for the unexpected – is how do we ensure that the role they play in that emergency/crisis situation is one which is worthwhile for them, as well as the community, and for which they feel valued?
And how do we keep them, and the community they are supporting, safe during that gifting of time?
Pandemic home care packs being put together by a volunteer team during the Omicron community outbreak earlier this year. These questions have been on the agenda for discussions around the country by the Volunteer Centre Network Aotearoa group, which consists of representatives from volunteer centres covering regions across the length and breadth of Aotearoa. As a result of this, two of the Volunteering Canterbury team – Outreach manager, Glenda Martin and Selwyn Outreach, Lizzie Daly – will attend a weekend training workshop in Wellington early in October around management of spontaneous volunteers.
This workshop is being hosted in the offices of Volunteering New Zealand and there will be several volunteer centres represented.
We believe that by having access in our communities, through volunteer centres, to people trained in the same processes and procedures, will assist the management of volunteer teams who are called upon during major weather events and other crises for which we need to continue to be prepared.
In addition to this, we continue to ‘meet’ regularly with those we worked with during the planning for this year’s predicted community outbreak of the omicron variant – including CDHB, MSD and Age Concern. It’s great to be a part of such a collaborative team.
