Volunteers invited to networking evening

JULIA WADE

7 Nov, 2022

A matchmaker event looking to pair up eager volunteers willing to roll up their sleeves and dedicate some time and energy to a worthy cause with various local organisations has been planned for Mangawhai.

Organised by Mangawhai Information Centre [MIC], a Volunteer Networking Evening is to be held at Mangawhai Tavern on November 10, a social evening designed to match volunteers with different organisations, MIC spokesperson Val Cleaver says.

“There are many people in the community who are interested in being a volunteer and the idea is to give them the opportunity to find out what is available and to recruit them to help local organisations,” she says. “There is a whole range of organisations which exist here in Mangawhai who will be present at this evening event and it is a great way for people to find a new interest or a renewed one.”

In 2020, the first volunteer evening was held with over 20 organisations presenting their roles and philosophies including environmental health, outdoor work and animal surveillance and control, to budgeting, problem-solving and administration, working with artifacts and art as well as personal health and wellbeing.

Each organisation will be given a few minutes to introduce themselves and provide a brief profile of their organisation followed by a ‘meet and mingle’ with the prospective volunteers. Nibbles will be provided by Kaipara District Council and drinks can be bought at the Tavern bar.

“As our previous event was most successful, we thought it was a good time to run the evening again,” Val says. “The key to choosing an organisation is for people to focus on what they are passionate about or have a particular interest in instead of feeling pressure ‘that they have’ to donate their time. Volunteering is also a great way to meet others so come along and enjoy meeting new people and familiar ones, find out all about our organisations and share your own volunteering skills with our community.”

n Volunteers Networking Evening, Mangawhai Tavern, Nov 10, 5pm-6pm