Student Volunteer Week celebrates and connects young people volunteering

Ella Harvey. Photo / David Haxton

Next week is Student Volunteer Week from April 4-10. Rosalie Willis talks to Volunteer Kāpiti youth intern Ella Harvey and Kāpiti councillor and youth portfolio holder Sophie Handford about the benefits of volunteering.

Student Volunteer Week from April 4-10 is a national campaign celebrating students making a change in their communities, and connecting young people with opportunities to get involved with volunteering.

In Kāpiti young people can get involved in volunteering through their schools with many groups, sports and activities requiring volunteers to coach, organise and participate.

"Volunteering helps us build purpose, understand and activate our impact, and meet so many others passionate about doing the same," youth portfolio holder Sophie Handford said.

Kapiti Coast District councillor Sophie Handford. Photo / Mark Mitchell

"Any volunteering I do is very much driven by my moral compass, and love for seeing people and our planet thrive.

"A society of people who are actively supporting one another, giving back and being kind, will help to enhance equity of outcomes and opportunities within our community."

Volunteer Kāpiti helps pair up people with organisations seeking volunteers.

Paraparaumu College head girl Ella Harvey is this year's Volunteer Kāpiti youth intern, giving her a place on their board while advocating for Volunteer Kāpiti in the local high schools to get more young people involved with the organisation.

"I have been involved with volunteering for as long as I can remember and when I saw an advertisement for the youth intern role, I knew this would be a role I was interested in."

Expressing an interest, Ella was given the role after a successful interview with Volunteer Kāpiti manager Susan Ansell and members of the board.

"With volunteering, you get the opportunity to not only make a positive impact in your community but also meet new people and grow more as a person along the journey.

"You learn so many skills from a vast range of individuals and get to know stories from others' perspectives and lives and in my opinion that is one of the most valuable things."

The role is also about promoting the benefits of younger volunteers to organisations as they have a diverse range of skills to offer.

At the moment this looks like Ella helping build the Volunteer Kāpiti Instagram, posting roles suited towards younger people on the platform, as well as using Facebook.

Ella herself was the student representative on the Paraparaumu College Board of Trustees last year and has been involved with the Kāpiti Coast Youth Council.

The theme for Student Volunteer Week this year is Takoha – give, Whakatipu – grow, Tūhono – connect.

Ella said, "I believe that this year's theme really strongly relates to the interconnectedness brought together by volunteering.

"The theme clearly outlines three key values of volunteering - being able to give back, grow yourself and your community, and connect more to your community and the people who you meet on your volunteering journey."

Sophie said, "I refuse to sit on my hands while our community needs some extra aroha and support and while we have a climate crisis to tackle.

"There's too much at stake, while also so many opportunities for us to collectively create a flourishing, compassionate district through volunteering our time.

"As a young person, volunteering allowed me to gain experience, skills and connections which I now use in my day-to-day life and meet the most incredible people.

"It's a way of creating the kind of community spirit we want to inherit, the idea that we all have an opportunity to make our little corner of the world brighter and more abundant with our collective existence."