Creating a community volunteer network

Mangere Bridge is blessed with incredible community leaders and workers, many of whom serve on a voluntary basis.  Our WasteWise project has uncovered diverse talent in the community and shown us just how much goodwill there is towards our goal of becoming a more ‘WasteWise, caring community’, where people look out for each other and pitch in to lend a hand when they are able. One of the goals of our project is to create a community volunteer network of ‘WasteWise champions’ and we’ve slowly seen this come to fruition as the different stages of our project have unfolded.

Drawing initially on our Friends of the Farm and Foreshore database, we’ve requested and encouraged volunteer support for the various events we’ve been involved in.  People have been willing to participate in letterbox drops (Food and Wine Festival/Sweet Talks), supervise bin stations (Mangere Bridge School car boot sale, Waterlea Festival, Food and Wine Festival) and assist with event activities (Farm Day, Goodbye Godwits, Sweet Talks). Others have helped with specialised tasks (Steve Rickerby of We Compost has removed compostable waste from events, Ross Allan of Paboom! Marketing has donated graphic design expertise to create a zero waste poster).

Prior to the recent Food and Wine Festival, we carried out a flyer drop to 2500 Mangere Bridge households sponsored by our local Harcourts branch.  Ten new volunteers supported that effort, including two retired residents who did more than their fair share, and twelve year old twins, Jarrad and Thomas Harris-Green, who are proud members of the Mangere Bridge community and great soccer players! 

Jarrad and Thomas commented afterwards that it was “fun and good exercise” delivering the flyers.  Their mum Sarah said she felt very good about their involvement and was proud that they hadn’t hesitated in agreeing to deliver the flyers when asked. She wanted to instill in them a sense of community and hopes volunteering experiences such as this will stay with them through their lives. 

At the Festival itself, six new waste champions emerged to assist with bin supervision.  One of these was James Russell, editor of ‘Element’ the sustainable business and lifestyle magazine printed with the Herald.  “Waste is an issue I’m really interested in, and it’s great to see people taking the initiative to reduce it in their communities,” he said, when asked about his involvement with the WasteWise team at the Festival. James is a Mangere Bridge local and feels “it makes sense to get involved”. He will be a wonderful addition to our local leadership group.

In some way or other, over 30 volunteers have now supported WasteWise events and the number is growing.  We want to increase and formalise the list of people who would be willing to provide a voluntary commitment of up to two or three hours at a time for:

-          Community working bees

-          Community clean ups

-          WasteWise projects

-          Letterbox drops

-      Other miscellaneous activities

Each time we approach a volunteer on our list, we give them the opportunity to say no, without having to make an excuse. Often people can choose how they contribute, as we need help in different ways. We’d love to hear from you, if you’re willing to be approached from time to time to help contribute to building a WasteWise, caring community. For our younger residents keen to clock up some community service hours, we’ll also provide a certificate they can take to school.

Contact:

Frances Hancock Ph 0210722696

justineskilling@gmail.com