Volunteer Meals on Wheels driver
Thank you for your interest in volunteering with us! Please note that all our offices will be closed from 5pm on Friday, 20 December, and will reopen on Monday morning, 6 January 2025. During this time, there may be delays in processing applications. We look forward to welcoming you as soon as possible after reopening.
Role description
Our Meals on Wheels service supports older, ill, and disabled people living at home who would otherwise struggle to provide healthy meals for themselves. We need volunteers keen to deliver hot meals and a friendly chat, to people in need across New Zealand.
Your tasks
Most of our drivers deliver meals once a week every two weeks, however shifts are flexible.
- Start your shift between 10.30am and 12pm.
- Pick up meals in your car.
- Deliver meals to people and have a brief chat at the door.
- Go home feeling good that you’ve helped someone out today.
Volunteer requirements and training
You’ll need to be a friendly person who has their own car and a valid driver's licence. We’ll train you in how to carry out the role and you’ll be supported by Red Cross volunteers or staff members.
Meals on Wheels volunteer onboarding may take anywhere between 2-6 weeks depending on your availability and the availability of the local coordinator. NZ Police response time can vary from a few days to about a month after we submit the Police Vet request.
You'll need to follow our Health, Safety and Wellbeing policies and procedures, which will be advised during training. You can also find more information on this on our tools and guidance for volunteers page.
Information about access to Meals on Wheels
Anyone who wants Meals on Wheels first speaks to their GP or other health professional. They assess eligibility, and send a referral to New Zealand Red Cross.
Read more information about access to Meals on Wheels
Locations
We deliver Meals on Wheels in over 30 cities and towns across Aotearoa New Zealand. Volunteer opportunities are listed by the pick-up location of the meals. Some areas pick up locations are in different neighbourhoods than where the meals are delivered to. Most pick-up points serve delivery routes for one or more neighbourhoods. Choose a “Location” to see what neighbourhoods are served by this pick-up point.
How to apply
To apply for this role:
- Select a region and location from the dropdown menus at the top of this page.
- Click the "change location" button
- Click the "apply for this role" button in the right-hand grey column.
- Complete the online application form and hit submit.
- Once you have applied, you'll need to undergo a free vetting check.
- New Zealand Police - support services (vulnerable adults)
- Valid driver's licence
- Vehicle with valid registration (rego) and warrant of fitness (WoF)
- Two referees for character checks
“It’s a way of giving back and maybe someone will deliver meals to me one day. It’s a quick and easy way to help out in your local community. Many people live on their own and have no family support,”
Karen, volunteer Meals on Wheels driver
We need volunteers keen to deliver hot meals and a friendly chat, to people in need across New Zealand.
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Well, the main part of the job
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is to collect meals and deliver them to people's door.
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But I guess we also provide
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a friendly face and a smile to people who
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might otherwise not see anyone during the course of the day.
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It's a pleasurable thing to do in itself,
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but also the sense of satisfaction that comes from making a contribution
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to something that's, you know, that's bigger than me.
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Each run,
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I guess, would take maybe, maybe an hour,
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but people can offer, you know,
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as many days of the week as they feel comfortable.
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Could be one day a week or one day a fortnight,
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so really, volunteers can choose a little bit
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about that.
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It's really a very simple,
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practical act of kindness in your local community,
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you need to be available during the late morning for an hour or two.
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You go to a pick-up point where you pick up a number of meals
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that might be between about six and 15 meals
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and then you deliver those meals to the people on your delivery run,
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who for whatever reason, are unable to prepare a hot,
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nutritious meal for themselves.
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I can’t fault them, they’re lovely. I've got somebody to talk to!
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I'm 92.
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I live on my own.
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And they come in and they give me life.
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If you're interested in becoming a volunteer Meals on Wheels driver,
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you can find out more
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or you can apply in two different ways.
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You could phone the Red Cross Contact Centre,
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which is 0800 Red Cross.
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So that's 0800 733 276.
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or you could go to our website, redcross.org.nz/volunteer
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