Volunteer Nelson – a place where volunteering leads to new horizons

April 11, 2023
UniquelyNelson
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Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you have had significant time off work due to illness, relocation or an injury? Have you ever wondered if you are ready to get back into the daily grind of the workplace?

Here’s an idea. Why not volunteer for a bit and let your confidence grow. Remove the money factor and you will soon discover working can be a joy and the connections you make will fast-track your progress in record time.

Volunteer Nelson is a success story. Its prime mandate is to connect volunteers with appropriate work opportunities. The rest happens naturally as people grow in both skill set and confidence. Life changing!

This week we spoke to Gordon Oldfeild. He’s had a journey in this space himself and is now the manager at Volunteer Nelson.

“I was a successful Pharmacist. I came to Nelson from Durban, South Africa to manage the Warehouse Chemist store in Trafalgar Street. Losing my sight was one of the biggest challenges I have ever faced. I lost my confidence and didn’t know how I would ever manage a working role.

I had some tough times, as you could imagine, getting used to this new challenge, but I made a decision to do the work and learn the adaptive software that assists me in typing. Once you get used to it, it becomes easier. Volunteers trained a Labrador guide dog for me, and he is with me every step of the way. We have a very close bond.

I volunteered and it was a perfect steppingstone for me. It gave me a purpose… something to get out of bed for. I decided to do some study and built some momentum while doing some online papers in management. I graduated with my masters degree in management, and there was a position perfect for me working at Volunteer Nelson. I am so incredibly grateful for this opportunity. It really lights up my day when I go to work and help Nelsonians get into some form of employment.” says Gordon.

“The boardroom is where we hold our meetings. It’s all set up with all the modern tech and we allow many different organisations use it. When you connect people with a vision, magic happens. People find their feet and the connections generate opportunities.”

Interesting fact: Did you know 1 in 3 locals are involved in Nelson are involved in Volunteering? That’s a huge part of the community. Imagine the potential networks that are involved in these stats alone?

Be Collective is a volunteer management platform that they use to make maximum impact. There is a successful leadership program they run for youth. They get a national qualification and have to run a community project with volunteers.

If you are interested to learn more, please visit their website and look at the latest opportunities. Pay them a visit, they have a great base in Tahunanui where the old RSA club used to be. There’s plenty of action with the op shop, Accounting for Good, and the K Cafe. They host the Repair Hub which teaches all folks how to repair things so they don’t end up in the landfill.