Whanganui Collegiate Student Army want to give back to the community

From left, Elliot Jones, Huy Nguyen, and Nitya Dwivedi with members of the Collegiate volunteer army. photo / Bevan Conley

What began as a core group of five Whanganui Collegiate students two months ago has now grown to a 30-strong army.

Their mission? To help elderly members of the Whanganui community, however they can.

Tech help, garden maintenance and dog walking are a few of the things they offer and to begin this new initiative, the group will be hosting an open day at the school on December 6.

Year 12 student Elliot Jones said their initial inspiration from the Student Volunteer Army in Canterbury, which was set up after the 2011 Christchurch earthquakes, and this first event would be " a bit of a kickstarter".

"We want to let people in the community know what we're doing, and what we can help with," Jones said.

"There'll be teams that offer IT support, and we'll be expanding to have groups that can go out into the community and help elderly people with stuff around their house.

"Our focus is mainly on older people at the moment, but we might look on expanding it out in the future, depending on how things go."

The group's first event will give any members of the public the chance to come along and ask questions, as well as enjoy some homemade baking, Jones said.

"There'll be two stall areas set up. One will be offering IT support, so people can bring their phones and devices along. That group will also be giving flyers out so people can get in contact with them in the future if they're needing further IT assistance.

"The other group will be focused on jobs and they'll have information to give out on how they can help out around the home. That could anything from helping to shift furniture to putting red dots on the start button of the oven for those that are visually impaired."

Year 11 student Nitya Dwivedi said being a part of Collegiate School meant that the students "always had help around" for them, and the army wanted to be able to do the same for people in the community.

"We want to give back and offer the same support that we get here at school," Dwivedi said.

"Most of us will be able to help with anything technology related, that would be our go-to, but I'm really keen to get into some gardening stuff as well."

Huy Nguyen, a Year 12 international student from Vietnam, said he'd joined the IT group to "help anyone with computer issues".

"We also have support from the school's IT team as well, who are very professional," Nguyen said.

"It's about cutting the grass and walking the dog but it's also about sharing time with other people."

The student-led Collegiate Army will be hosting their first open day on Sunday, December 6 at Big School, opposite the school's chapel. The event starts at 1pm and is free to attend.