Volunteering with Rotary Volunteers crucial

from National Volunteer Week 2022

Have fun outdoors, changing lives

The volunteers at Wellington Free Ambulance play an enormous role in keeping our community safe and well. Volunteer Event Medics cover a variety of concerts, sporting and community events. And if things get serious, Event Medics will also look after you until one of our emergency ambulances arrive. These are people who give their time for others people who care about people.

Margaret is a volunteer Event Medic, and over the past nine years has been one of the medics helping keep you and your family safe at community events.

“Wellington Free is really rewarding to volunteer for,” says Margaret. “Over the years, I’ve especially enjoyed working at Wings Over Wairarapa, the Martinborough Fair and cycling events. A community really feels like a community when people have the chance to get together socially, and I am proud to be a part of making that happen,” says Margaret.

Wellington Free Ambulance has 71 volunteers who attended 297 events over the past year. They offer medical cover at community events, volunteer on the frontline in the emergency ambulance service, act as community first responders in more rural areas and offer CPR training through the Lloyd Morrison Foundation Heartbeat programme.

If you’re interested in joining the volunteer team visit www.wfa.org. nz/volunteer for more information.

Big hearts across a big district

Across the Wairarapa District, Fire & Emergency volunteers are described as being awesome, committed people. They have to be. They’re on call in 24/7 positions. Their pagers could go off at any time indicating someone, somewhere in their community needs help. Wairarapa is a large community which matches their big hearts.

At present there are eight rural volunteer brigades located within districts from Mauriceville to Ngawi and a further four urban volunteer brigades in Carterton, Greytown, Featherston and Martinborough. Masterton is a composite station meaning it is made up of both paid career firefighters (who work a four-day on, four-day off shift), and volunteers who are on call around the clock.

The work is tough and unrelenting, but the rewards are huge; and the comradery is extra special. Unique bonds are formed when volunteer firefighters put their lives in the hands of each other, every time they respond to a dangerous incident. Brigades attend anything from medical emergencies, motor vehicle accidents, structural and vegetation fires, triggered alarms or civil defence emergencies. When you travel to rural locations across New Zealand, spare a thought for these courageous, self-sacrificing people who are stepping into the breach every day, for people they don’t even know. You may be the next unwitting benefactor of their generosity. Want to know more? Visit www.fireandemergency. nz/volunteering/

The Rotary Club of Masterton South was chartered in 1968 and over the past 54 years has lived up to the Rotary motto of ‘service before self’. It epitomises this in the involvement of its sixty plus members who involve themselves in many volunteer activities for the Masterton community.

Members come from all walks of life and enjoy the friendship and camaraderie of the weekly Tuesday meeting with fellowship and dinner usually followed by a guest speaker.

Masterton South is one of the four Rotary Clubs in Wairarapa, and all provide much-needed volunteer work in their communities.

The long-running Sunday Market is one of the club’s biggest fundraisers. All members volunteer on a weekly roster to look after the market, which fosters important relationships with the many stallholders. Did you know the Kiddies Bike Park was also initiated by Rotary and involved members’ labour to get started? As too, The Millennium Reserve, which continues to this day with volunteer members spending time planting and caring for this picturesque facility. Another big event run by Rotary is the Annual Foodbank Appeal. All club members contribute their time, vehicles, and manpower to make this a great success. Members also oversee the running of the Mini Golf Programme and have recently been hard at work renovating and replanting the grounds to make them more attractive. rotarymastertonsouth. club

Rotary is heavily involved in providing opportunities for young people too, including scholarship grants. They also have run a reading assistance programme for intermediate students and provide an attractive, illustrated dictionary for all Year 4 children in the district plus a book for every new-born baby. Overseas they assist with emergencies, particularly in the Pacific. A big project was setting up the Mobile Health Clinic Bus for Rarotonga.

The organisation of the bus, the medical equipment, and all the financial input was all undertaken voluntarily by Rotarians.

Masterton South also has had a vibrant singing group. The Rotary Singers have entertained at Christmas functions in the town and many entertaining Presidential Changeover Nights. The great joy of belonging to Rotary is the willing spirit of its members. If a call to help in the community is received - whether it’s for collections for Parkinsons or Polio, or working at Wings over Wairarapa - there is no shortage of hands that go up to volunteer.

Rotary is a vibrant international organisation that provides an opportunity for people of all ages and diversities to network and make a difference where it’s needed, in all sectors of the community.

Want to find out more? www.

A salute to volunteers creating a Masterton treasure. Friends of Millennium Native Forest Reserve Society

The Millennium Reserve, on the corner of Hillcrest St and Pownall St, was initiated in 1993 as a Rotary Club of Masterton South community project.

The vision is to restore native plants and animals to the area, as a resource for the local community and future generations.

From a swampy wetland, regenerating native forest and wetlands have been established.

The work has been done by community volunteers with financial support from the Masterton Trust Lands Trust.

The Reserve operates as an Incorporated Society with Rotary members continuing to be active on this committee. We would welcome additional volunteers.

The Reserve is a Hidden Gem open to the public to visit and enjoy the native plants bordering the pathways with a lovely grassy area to picnic in.

We thank all those who have responded to fires and emergencies in our communities and across the district in the last 12 months. Your support and commitment to Fire and Emergency New Zealand is invaluable.