How residents are helping their communities

First published in Stuff.co.nz

Most Wednesday mornings you’ll find Jean Piper on the dancefloor at her retirement village hall - but she’s not dancing: She’s coordinating a charity drive.

The pop-up shop that Jean runs sells donated secondhand clothes, with the proceeds going to Hato Hone St John ambulance service.

Residents and extended family from Jean’s village donate the clothes, and other residents and family members buy them, in a mission that has three great outcomes: It supports sustainability, it has raised about $37,000 for the charity, and it keeps Jean, 87, occupied.

“I like to keep busy to be perfectly honest,” Jean says.

“Someone told me it was going on in another village, with a room to themselves perfectly set up. It was something I could get my teeth into.”

She now coordinates about 10 helpers, who do about a day a month each.

They sell used clothing in good condition, plus handbags, accessories, scarves, and jewellery. They initially had shoes, but found they got “a bit stinky” in the cupboard between pop-up stalls.

Jean says the New To You stall at Pinesong Retirement Village in Titirangi, Auckland was, at least initially, “just something that took my fancy”.

Filling up time by helping

“It’s a very good feeling, but that sort of came later. My motivation was that this is quite a good thing to do to fill up my time. I like looking for things to do where I can help.”

She says many others from her retirement village have got involved, including an artist, who made us “a beautiful ladder that keeps track of the money so people can see how much we’re making”.

Because the dancefloor is right next to the cafeteria, the pop-up shop has become quite an event on the social calendar.

“[Residents] come, meet each other, make a cup of coffee, and sit down and have a chat. It’s residents meeting residents.

“It has become a very popular event and people miss it when we don’t have it. We start again in Feb. Mid-Jan they’re all really ready for us to start again.”

Connecting with the community

When Suellen Roy returned to New Zealand after four years in Sydney, she was 65 and retired. With her husband Brian, she settled in New Plymouth, and quickly realised it was going to be harder making friends and connecting with the community at her stage of life.

She was determined to use the extra time she had on her hands constructively.

Organisers at Volunteering Taranaki suggested she would be a good fit for the Big Brothers, Big Sisters programme, which matches young people with adult mentors.

"I don't have kids of my own,“ Suellen says. ”I don't have grandchildren, so I liked the idea of being able to connect with a young person, and potentially be a positive influence - beyond that I really didn’t quite know what shape the mentoring role would take.“

The programme goes to “great lengths” to match the children to the appropriate adults. For Suellen, it was seven-year-old “Libby” (not her real name).

"She was very smiley, happy. She's very, very shy, but she was a lovely, respectful little girl."

Although Suellen was initially apprehensive about how a little girl might feel “hanging out” with a pensioner, she says she needn’t have worried. The pair quickly warmed to each other, and living close to beaches, parks, the library and museum, they never ran out of things to do together.

“Her first excited question when I picked her up was always ‘What are we going to do today?’.

“She was insatiably curious about everything, which at times took me out of my comfort zone. For example, off the top of your head, how do you explain tides to a seven-year-old?”

Being responsible for another person’s child was “very humbling”, and Suellen was always mindful that Libby’s mother was happy with how they spent their time together.

Eventually Libby was able to visit the couple at home. The Roys fostered her enjoyment of music.

"My partner Brian was also involved a lot. It gave us a role that we were never going to experience, because you are effectively a grandparent. She took us out of our comfort zone, and it was just wonderful to see her enjoy time with us [...] she was a joy to have in the house and to be around."

Libby is now an adult and no longer part of the programme - and Suellen now has a new “little sister” to mentor.

But, the Roys are still in touch with Libby.

“Libby’s a lovely gentle, respectful young woman,” Suellen says.

“She’s also a talented performing musician. We couldn’t be more proud of her.”

Tūao Aotearoa Volunteering New Zealand’s latest State of Volunteering report (Sept 24) shows that most volunteers’ motivation is a simple desire to give back to the community - 83% of volunteers gave that reason.

Other key motivations are to make friends or form social connections, to learn new skills, and for mental health and wellbeing.

Jo Clark, who is the volunteer programme manager for Nelson Tasman Hospice, says that not only do the older volunteers want to give back, their lived experience makes their contributions especially valuable.

“A lot of them have a lifetime of professional and personal experience, ties to our community, and a wide range of skills.”

The regional service relies on the skills of about 500 volunteers, who offer their time in areas as diverse as life story writing, retail (in the services’ op shops), gardening, massage, administration, fundraising, offering comfort or care to patients, equipment delivery and event support. Some offer free consulting time, including business advice.

“While many of our volunteers have reached retirement age, we also have a number of younger volunteers who bring fresh perspectives, energy and enthusiasm,” Jo says. “Having both means there can be an exchange of ideas. It creates a sense of community.”

She says people are often motivated to volunteer after having a friend or whānau member who’s been a patient on the service.

For Nelson Tasman Hospice, as for the free-to-the-public (and not fully funded) hospices nationally, volunteers are a critical part of the workforce and the service couldn’t run without them.

“All of the roles, no matter how much time people give, play a vital role. It's really amazing to have so many: They help us provide palliative care in the community.”