Local Focus: Helping others helps you too - volunteering hub to open in Rotorua

An organisation changing lives is about to launch a new hub in Rotorua.

Volunteering Bay of Plenty has a base in Tauranga but has recently extended to reach people looking for opportunities to help others and enhance their own lives.

Rotorua woman Katie Rowland has taken on the new role of relationships manager.

"My role is to connect volunteers to organisations and other non-for-profit to make a difference within the community and to give those organisations the support they need to reach their full potential," she said.

Rowland has been in the part-paid and part-voluntary role for less than a month but has made much headway with organisations, schools, and corporate businesses.

She plans to combine school students with businesses "and do a student volunteer program to get them experience and knowledge in industries that they're looking to go into in the future".

A recent survey by Volunteering Australia suggests those who volunteer regularly are more likely to find it a positive experience than those who volunteer infrequently.

"Volunteering can help you to expand your horizons and better yourself as well as help other people.

"There's research that proves that if you volunteer your mood is lifted, depression rates are a lot lower.

"You've got a lot more self-esteem and self-worth," she said.

Chief executive Vanessa Lister said they're excited to be connecting with some of Rotorua's unsung heroes.

"At Volunteering Bay of plenty we believe every volunteer is a superhero and every superhero needs a cape," Lister said.

"We talk about the acronym cape.

"We connect people, we advocate for the sector, we protect the communities who are involved, their rights and their obligations and we bring education around the volunteering sector."

Operations manager Maya Levinson has volunteered for a number of years in various roles, including working with Alzheimer's patients in Tauranga.

Levinson said Covid restrictions have isolated some of New Zealand's most vulnerable people.

"We just come to have a chat," she said.

"Sometimes we can take them out with us for a walk and just be a friend.

"When people are diagnosed with dementia sometimes friends stop visiting and it becomes a bit difficult.

"The stories are repetitive and communication is difficult.

"We're just there to be friends."

The Rotorua hub will Launch on March 1 at Rangiuru St.