Marlborough Express - Weekend Express
Plunket finds volunteers for front desk
New parents visiting the Plunket rooms in Blenheim will no longer be confronted with an empty front desk.
Four volunteers will spend four hours a day, from Monday to Thursday, greeting mums, dads and babies, pointing them in the right direction for their appointment.
They’ll even warm up the rooms and get the jug on for tired parents needing a coffee.
Plunket community services co-ordinator Samantha Dodds says one of the first things she noticed when she began her role in October was the front desk was always empty, often leaving new visitors confused and unsure.
‘‘When people came in there was a sign on the desk that would ask them just to wait until the Plunket nurses are ready and I know from experience that when you have ‘mum brain’ you worry about ‘are you in the right place at the right time’, things like that.’’
Samantha says that without the women giving their time voluntarily, such a role would not be filled as all of Plunket’s funding went towards its core services including free parent education, playgroups, kindy gyms, establishing coffee groups and toy libraries. ‘‘Due to a lack of funding we’ve had to prioritise where that money goes.’’
Samantha advertised for the volunteer roles at the end of March and was very pleased to receive applications from the four women. She says the response shows how much people value Plunket.
‘‘They have been amazing. They do a 4-hour shift every week so it’s a significant time commitment for them, and they just love it.
‘‘They make the rooms warm and welcoming, they greet the clients and the Plunket nurses are really grateful.’’
Volunteer Maree Chambers is relishing her new front desk role, from greeting and chatting to mums to cuddling their babies while they make, and have time to enjoy, a hot drink.
‘‘I just love it. I love children, and I also do relief work at a preschool, which is more babies and children. I just thoroughly enjoy it and the company of mothers and babies coming in.’’
Maree says her four adult children, now aged late 40s down to late 30s, all received Plunket services and she is happy to give back.
‘‘I know what it’s like myself, going into a strange place with no receptionist, not knowing if you should go and knock on the door.
‘‘Having someone at the front door of the desk as the first point of call is really important, especially with mums and babies. Mums might be stressed out, the baby might have had a bad night.’’
Blenheim’s Plunket rooms are open from 9am to 3.30pm, Monday to Friday, for any parents or caregivers to feed and change their babies and have a cup of tea and coffee, Samantha says.
‘‘We call it a home away from home.’’
This week is National Volunteer Week, and Volunteer Marlborough manager Meg Martin says people looking for a volunteer role can search their database, on volunteermarlborough.org.nz, for a suitable role.
People think they have to make a large commitment, when often an hour a week is enough, Meg says.
‘‘People by and large are looking for short-term or lower commitment positions.’’
Meg says winter is usually quieter in terms of volunteers looking for work, but things tend to pick up closer to summer, particularly for outdoor positions.