Waipuna Hospice needs 50 new volunteers to help run its charity shops after one had to close for a day this month when help couldn’t be secured.

Te Puke’s Waipuna Hospice shop closed on September 15 because there weren’t enough volunteers to operate it safely, manager Catherine Sipson said.

“Without them, we can’t open,” Sipson said. “We wouldn’t have shops if we didn’t have volunteers. If we didn’t have shops, we wouldn’t be able to support Waipuna Hospice.”

Waipuna Hospice had now put a call out for 50 new volunteers to join its network of charity shops – at Fraser St, Mount Maunganui, Pāpāmoa, Katikati and Te Puke – and no retail experience was required.

People were asked to consider volunteering as little as a three-hour shift per week, although the organisation was increasingly flexible about the time people can give.

Waipuna Hospice general manager of retail Jace Dowman said the decline in volunteers at the Te Puke shop had happened gradually, with some long-serving, older volunteers retiring.

“There hasn’t been a huge influx of volunteers replacing them,” Dowman said.

Sipson said eight volunteers who started when the shop opened 12 years ago still contributed their time to the six-day-per-week operation.

The shop needed about four volunteers per shift, alongside paid staff, to cover the shop floor, the counter and processing donations.

Dowman said the organisation understood people’s time was increasingly stretched.

“We’re open to two-hour shifts and as many as they want to do,” he said.

“We’re even open if they want to do a four-hour shift once a month. We’re open to anything.”

Waipuna Hospice needs 50 new volunteers to help run its charity shops. Photo / Kelly O'Hara

Sipson, who had managed the Te Puke shop for 12 years, said the town’s seasonal kiwifruit industry did affect its pool of potential volunteers.

Some retired and semi-retired people who might otherwise volunteer instead took on paid seasonal work, she said.

The shop originally opened as a pop-up with 53 volunteers before community support enabled it to move into its current permanent premises at 200 Jellicoe St.

Sipson would particularly like to see more young people get involved and was exploring “micro-volunteering” opportunities for people who could not commit to regular shifts.

“Because you know, we realise how time-poor a lot of people are with looking after grandkids, looking after spouses that may be unwell and there’s so many factors that contribute to the fact that volunteer numbers are declining,” she said.

A donated hour of time could enable a volunteer to vacuum the shop, clean shelves or price clothing, she said.

For those able to take on a regular shift, there were opportunities to work alongside other volunteers and become part of the wider hospice community.

Sipson said many volunteers described the shop as their “happy place”. “They come in here because they’re made to feel valuable and feel like a really important part of the Waipuna Hospice family,” she said.

Dowman said the community atmosphere was one reason many volunteers stayed for years.

“There’s a really great atmosphere in our shops,” he said. “We try to have as much fun as we can.

“Our volunteers give us so much, so it’s important they enjoy being here too. There’s plenty of laughter, coffee and biscuits along the way.”

Behind the fun, however, was a serious financial purpose.

Income generated from Waipuna Hospice’s five charity shops across the Western Bay of Plenty provided a good proportion of funding needed to run its services. Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora funded 44% of Waipuna Hospice’s overall annual operating costs of more than $14 million. That meant the rest of the required funds had to be raised.

Dowman said Waipuna Hospice supported almost 1000 patients a year, with most clinical care provided in patients’ homes.

That meant the impact of a shop closure extended well beyond the shop itself, he said.

“Our shops make a significant contribution towards the funding we need to raise each year, so they’re an incredibly important part of Waipuna Hospice,” Dowman said. “But we simply couldn’t operate them without our volunteers. When we don’t have enough people to keep the doors open, it has a very real impact.”

While the immediate focus was on filling shifts in Te Puke, the organisation was looking for volunteers aged 16-plus, with no previous experience, for all its charity shops and depots.

For more information, visit waipunahospice.org.nz/volunteer or email: volunteers@waipunahospice.org.nz.