A largely unseen Hato Hone St John service has celebrated 25 years of giving the gift of friendship to those who need it in South Canterbury.
Caring Caller is a free anonymous service where volunteers make calls to individuals confined to their homes through mobility issues or illness — offering companionship, support and friendship on a weekly or sometimes daily basis.
A South Canterbury volunteer, who has been a Caring Caller since 2004, said the work they did was very important.
‘‘We think it is and the people we call think it is, they look forward to our calls and to some, maybe even many, it’s a lifeline. It’s the only line they have with sort of the outside world and a regular communication with somebody.
‘‘It’s a rewarding volunteer service, you know, somebody out there is relying on you just to say ‘hi, how’s your day?’ — we are a friendship line, not a helpline.
‘‘They’re not our clients, they’re a friend that we don’t ever get to know but that doesn’t stop them from becoming very good friends.’’
The South Canterbury volunteers celebrated the anniversary earlier in the month with a lunch at the Geraldine Farmshop & Cafe, they said.
‘‘Wonderful help was extended to us by the St John shuttle service. Irene Straker, the community transport manager, and Rose Davidson, the area co-ordinator, organised transport for us on the local shuttle with Rose as our driver.
‘‘She added to our day’s enjoyment by visiting the Mia Flora nursery in Winchester. We are humbled by their support, our appreciation is huge.’’
For the service to continue into the future, they would need both some more callers as well as those they called, they said.
‘‘We’re not out there enough to let people know, and let them know it’s free. A lot of people I’ve met thought, ‘but how much do I have to pay?’ because there’s nothing much for free these days.
‘‘We’re all older too, and the young ones don’t want to do this in their spare time, they think they’re busy and the older ones are now working past retirement. Then when they retire, they want to go and do all the fun things, not take on volunteer work.’’
They welcomed one and all to become volunteers for the service, they said.
‘‘It is a great experience and friendships are made for people on both ends of the phone. We also hold monthly morning teas with our fellow callers.’’
For more information about the service, whether as a caller or receiver, contact St John Aoraki community engagement administrator Reta Kritzinger on 027 266-8181 or email [email protected].
