Western Bay Volunteering with Theo Ursum Volunteer WBOP centre manager

Volunteering could be the key to promoting happiness and social connectedness in the Western Bay of Plenty.

I agree with my colleague, Cheryll Martin, who writes in the Volunteering Auckland newsletter that it goes further: 'Volunteering is a fantastic means of getting to know people and ensuring that our communities are a great place to live. One of the reasons Denmark rates so high on the scales mentioned is because of their high level of volunteering. Volunteering can directly increase social connectedness and at the same time achieve charitable aims.”

The growth in the people signing up at our centre shows that many people in the Bay want to volunteer and are looking for an opportunity to connect with their community.

On the other side, I believe that not for profit organisations should reach out more actively for those volunteers. For many volunteers, their unpaid work is about developing new skills.

This is a chance to gain experience which will serve them well for richer lives after retirement, gathering expertise with which to switch careers, or connection to their community.

And charities could do well to adopt this sort of language more.

In my opinion, charities will increasingly need to suit the role to the volunteer, rather than the volunteer to the role. This means that charities have to look at other roles that the standard regular volunteer roles and fundraisers by offering just ‘turn up and join in' roles, project base volunteering and online volunteering jobs. More volunteers will undertake shorter-term substantial roles at a charity.

This might sound like huge shift, but it might be needed to keep the Bay connected.