Windley School, Treasury, DAC Beachcroft and champs scoop Volunteer Wellington awards

Successful collaboration on the reading front saw Windley School in Porirua and the NZ Treasury presented with Volunteer Wellington’s 2015 Business and Community Partnership Award at a ceremony in Wellington this evening.

Since forging a partnership 18 months ago – through Volunteer Wellington’s Employee Volunteering Programme – a team of Treasury volunteers have headed to the primary school in Cannons Creek each Wednesday morning during term time to help new entrants practise their reading. The volunteers also help with the breakfast club, which runs before school starts.

Treasury also took the award for the Employee Volunteering Programme of the year.

“Treasury has developed a programme that fits in well with its mission of improving living standards, and that gives its employees direct experience with people from various walks of life,” said Peter Gilberd, spokesperson for the six-judge panel. “Its programme was varied, participation rates high, and the benefits for its employees and the community a key feature.”

School students were the key beneficiaries of another of the five employee volunteering awards presented this evening. Legal firm DAC Beachcroft won the 2015 Standout Project Award for its engaging ‘Trip to the City’ project that saw two groups of Porirua College students hosted on whirlwind tours of Wellington city’s highlights. The tours finished up with a visit to DAC’s office and an opportunity to find out more about DAC’s work and careers in law. For most of the students, the trip to Wellington city was a first.

Awards were also presented to outstanding individuals in both the community and business sector. Lynne White and Max Kerr of Upstream – Friends of Central Park, shared the 2015 Community Volunteering Champion Award for their work with groups of employee volunteers that had effectively transformed the retiring Wellington park into a must-see place to visit.

Liz Hampton, who has spearheaded IBM’s employee volunteering programme in the community for many years, was presented with the 2015Employee Volunteering Champion Award. Her creative approach to volunteering, ability to best apply her colleagues’ skills for the benefit of community groups, and her willingness to work with Volunteer Wellington to achieve both business and community objectives, were highlighted by Judy Kerr, the judge of the award and Coordinator of Volunteer Wellington’s Employee Volunteering Programme.

“It was a hard task choosing the winners,” said Peter. “The calibre of entrants was high and the nature of the work diverse.”

“We were really struck by just how useful this voluntary work – carried out by employees from businesses and government agencies across the region – is. Whether it’s painting rooms, helping children read, teaching new migrants and refugees the local lingo, clearing weeds from local parks and cemeteries, developing business plans or websites, the efforts of these volunteers makes a huge difference to community organisations with stretched resources, and to our society in general.”

““The benefits of employee volunteering – team building, chance to learn new or use existing skills – are well documented. But it also gives volunteers the opportunity to engage with people from different backgrounds. It cuts both ways. The volunteers gain a greater awareness and the people they work with have an opportunity to see a different side of life too.”

Over the past 12 months, Volunteer Wellington linked up 1000 employee volunteers with 100 community projects across the wider Wellington region. Mayor Celia Wade-Brown, a long-time volunteer, spoke at this evening’s awards ceremony – which also celebrated the Nikau Foundation Corporate Challenge[1]. The event was timed to coincide with National Volunteer Week.

ENDS

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