Volunteering on Waiheke Island
21 June 2024
Waiheke Branch President Jill Caughley talks to us about the island’s dedicated Red Cross volunteers, unique community needs, and how she keeps track of all the information that comes her way.
Jill Caughley first got involved with Red Cross as a nurse delegate. In 1985 she left Wellington for the Thai/Cambodian border, where she worked in the ICRC surgical hospital for refugees in Kao-I-Dang camp. There she made Red Cross friendships that have lasted a lifetime.
From 2002 onwards Jill spent 15 years living in Geneva, where she stayed in touch with Red Cross people she had worked with in Khao-I Dang and in Peshawar, Pakistan. She also remained connected to the ICRC through her husband’s involvement and through her own work with the International Labour Organisation and the Florence Nightingale International Foundation of the International Council of Nurses.
When Jill returned to New Zealand for good in 2017, her many connections with the Red Cross Movement led her to reach out to New Zealand Red Cross about volunteering. She joined the Waiheke Branch in 2020 and was elected to the voluntary role of Branch President.
Jill spoke to us ahead of National Volunteer Week 2024. Excerpts from this conversation are below:
On Red Cross activities in Waiheke
People imagine Waiheke is an island of vineyards, beaches and flash houses, and it is; we feel very privileged to live here. But there are also significant areas of deprivation and people struggling to survive. There’s a huge problem with housing – especially in summer, when the population of 9,000 expands to over 30,000. People might be surprised to hear that there are people living in cars and boats without any facilities, and that we have food banks on the island and an active food rescue service.
Like everywhere, our aging population has increasing needs, which compound with other community vulnerabilities. We are very grateful for our pool of 70 volunteers who deliver Meals on Wheels five days a week, reaching up to 30 people a day. They are an important social contact for people living alone. We value our Meals on Wheels service, and appreciate the coordination support we get too.
As an island, we’re very aware of possibly being cut off from Auckland and emergency services if there is a disaster – as we were for a while during Cyclone Gabrielle. We recognise the opportunity, but also the responsibility we have in helping our community prepare. We’re part of community discussions about preparedness with local resident’s boards, the Waiheke Local Board and Auckland Council.
Our branch-run shop provides affordable shopping for the community, and we take pride in recycling and upcycling clothes and household items to promote sustainable living – which is a very strong ethos on Waiheke. Our team of 12 volunteers work hard to keep the shop looking interesting and enticing, and providing a warm welcome to customers.
As a result of the shop’s revenue, we’ve been able to fund Red Cross Psychological First Aid courses for our members and community groups who otherwise might not be able to participate in such courses.
We are really fortunate that we have an amazing branch building with great facilities, and we take our role as guardians of the building very seriously. We generate income that supports our work by hiring our hall to groups that promote health and wellbeing. We have also had generous bequests to the branch that are dedicated to providing welfare support on Waiheke.
On engaging and supporting volunteers
If someone is thinking about becoming a member or volunteer with Red Cross, I love talking to them about more than just what they see on the ground. Because volunteering is greatly enriched by understanding the depth and breadth of Red Cross and its humanitarian mandate and values.
A thorough induction on Red Cross and its Fundamental Principles is important. It helps people feel a sense of belonging to the organisation, understand its purpose, and recognise they are part of a global humanitarian network – a Red Cross family.
We’re fortunate with our team of volunteers who dedicate so much time, energy and vitality to our branch. The current committee has been together since 2020. We complement each other’s skills and capabilities, and we get on well and have fun together.
It’s important we look out for each other and provide support, checking in and keeping alert to personal or family illness, or other difficulties. We make allowances, are flexible and have empathy for our volunteers, because we value their contribution; this is part of the caring and cohesion of a small community.
At the end of the year, we also have a celebratory party to thank our volunteers and present service certificates. This event is well attended, and we finish the evening with karaoke, which everyone thoroughly enjoys.
On getting young volunteers involved
We have shop volunteers who are younger, and we would love to have more young volunteers. We’re constantly thinking about ways to engage them, such as holding Youth Psychological First Aid courses and through the Young Humanitarian programme. There’s an opportunity for us to draw out the attributes and skills that our young volunteers have and give them the scope to use these and be creative in their work. I think they will get much greater satisfaction and we will benefit hugely too.
On keeping on top of it all
One good development is the availability of excellent information for Branch Presidents, such as myself, posted on the Red Cross intranet. I check it every day, which suggests I’m a bit of an information nerd – a throw-back to my previous health information work, perhaps.
Because there’s so much coming through, I try to summarise it as appropriate for the committee, our wider branch membership, or use it for articles in our local newspaper. We display posters and flyers in the shop and on our branch noticeboards, which are seen by the public.
There’s also a lot of updates on organisational changes and the new Area Model. It can be difficult for us at this level to absorb it all and understand the implications, so we ask lots of questions and seek clarification and assistance from the Area Council and Area Support Team.
To help keep track of everything we are doing, I make lots of tables and checklists and send out regular branch updates – too many, some might say!
This approach is helpful for reporting at monthly Area Council meetings and to put together the branch annual report and our report to the AGM. Since going to the National Council meeting a few years ago, I got the idea of a pictorial ‘Year in Review’ PowerPoint presentation to highlight our achievements, celebrate and thank our volunteers, and also thank the community for its support.
On her goals with the Waiheke Branch
In 2020 the committee made a list of things we needed to do to make the branch sustainable, with practices relevant for today’s needs.
Four years on, there are still many things we haven’t cracked yet. While it’s important to know when it’s time to move on and make way for new talent, I still feel there’s more to do.
I have a great sense of appreciation for the many people who have supported our branch, and our wonderful, committed and hard-working team. I would feel that I was letting them down if we didn’t complete the work we started back in 2020, and so perhaps it’s worth keeping going for little longer – but not too much longer.
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