Our Services:

• Family Works Northern
• Enliven Positive Ageing Services
• Coactive Collaborative Disability Services
• Budgeting Service
• Connecting with Parishes
• Presbyterian Opportunity Shop
• PSN Foodbank

Volunteer enjoys his new friends

Voluntarily donating his time to be an Enliven Befriender, Erwin De Raad says that he gets just as much enjoyment from spending time with his friends as they do.

To help transition from his working career to retirement, Erwin decided to cut back his paid working hours and donate his spare time to giving something back to the community.

He decided to become an Enliven Befriender – a volunteer who provides company and practical assistance to older people, so that they are able to live independantly and enjoy a full life. Erwin loves spending time with people, believing that everyone, no matter what their situation, has a wealth of knowledge and friendship to offer.

One of Erwin’s most memorable friends through Enliven was an older man named Jack who lived with his wife and her live-in carer. Jack wanted a bit of male company and having Erwin as his Befriender was the perfect match. Both men had a common interest in the stock exchange and both shared a love of coffee. Each week, Erwin would take Jack out to a new coffee shop where they would sit around a table and talk for hours. “I enjoyed it just as much as he did,” says Erwin.

This week Enliven are celebrating Volunteer Awareness Week, a national initiative to raise awareness of the need for volunteers and to encourage all New Zealanders to be increasingly generous with their time.

For Enliven, it is an opportunity to show how enjoyable and satisfying volunteering can be and most importantly, to recognise faithful volunteers. Enliven are holding a free luncheon to thank their volunteers for their valuable contributions on Thursday 18^th June, and have received generous support from the local community to do so.

Enliven is a home support service offered by Presbyterian Support Northern that enables older people to stay as independent as they want to be in their own homes and to feel great about it. Enliven Befrienders are volunteers who make regular contact with an older person, stopping in for a chat, transporting them to medical appointments or practically helping them to do things that are important to them.

Enliven are currently looking for Befriending volunteers in the South Auckland are. If you are interested in finding out more about becoming a volunteer, please contact Tracy Kenyon on 09 526 7913.

ENDS

For more information, please contact:

Tracy Kenyon

Befriending Coordinator

Ph: 09 526 7913

Mob: 027 563 1089