Let's Talk

There is a Place for You to Volunteer! was the theme for National Volunteer Week 2015. Check out the stories on our FaceBook showcasing some of our member organisations as a place to volunteer!

It's been another busy period since our last e-newsletter to you all. We hosted the National Hui for the Volunteer Centre Network of Aotearoa - 16 of the 18 Volunteer Centres from across the country converged on Auckland for a two day hui early May. Great to catch up with my colleagues in the Volunteer Centre realm!

We also completed a piece of research looking at "Migrants and their Choice in Volunteering" to ascertain how best to support people new to NZ and Auckland in their quest for contributing to their new country and getting ahead. We are working in partnership with Auckland Regional Migrant Service [ARMS] to further this work.

As part of the review of our service we are also undertaking a review of our service fees. Our membership fees have remained the same for the past five years including when GST was increased. However, now has come the time to review this as part of our full strategic review. A new fee structure for membership will into affect once the VA Board has approved the structure.

As mentioned in previous correspondence we have had major increases in the number of people we are needing to process for referrals to voluntary roles. We have further streamlined our referral service by handling all current and future roles on an automated basis. You should now be receiving a "live" email as each person registers for your roles. This replaces a twice weekly email being sent to you with the volunteer contacts. If you need us to do the first response screening of your potential volunteers, we can still perform a face-to-face discussion through our "advisory referral" process. Listing roles through our website using the automated "self" referrals system will remain as a part of your membership fee.

Stay warm over these cold days!

Yours in Volunteering

Cheryll Martin

General Manager</p>