Mayor's Message: Acknowledging our volunteers

This is National Volunteer Week and 2026 has been declared by the UN General Assembly as International Volunteer Year, the first time in 25 years. It’s an opportunity to thank people but also to build the culture of volunteering.

Nelson can be proud that we have one of the highest rates of volunteering in the country. The last Census in 2023 revealed 62% of people doing some form of volunteer work in the last month, significantly above the national average of 53%. This high rate of volunteering is part of what makes Nelson a caring community and a great place to raise children and retire.

I see this work every day as Mayor with community organisations such as Hospice, Hato Hone St John, Red Cross, Stoke Volunteer Fire Brigade, Forest & Bird, Coastguard, Rotary, Lions, Cancer Society, dozens of sports clubs, Scouts, Guides, Heart Foundation, Deaf Aotearoa, Blind Low Vision, Habitat for Humanity, RSA and many others. Our branches of these national organisations are, relative to our population, stronger than other regions, but we also have many unique voluntary organisations such as the Founders Annual Book Fair, Brook Waimārama Sanctuary, our Adopt a Spot groups, Multicultural Nelson Tasman, those maintaining our special heritage homes such as Melrose, Broadgreen and Isel and our Nelson Visitor Information Ambassadors.

By using the Census data and the current minimum wage rate of $23.95 per hour, the estimated economic value of volunteering in Nelson is a whopping $181 million per year! This is 1.5 times our Council’s rate take of $120 million. If we substituted all this volunteer work with paid staff funded by rates, we would need to increase them by 150%.

Council has a job to do in supporting Nelson’s strong volunteering culture. I hosted a morning tea at Founders Heritage Park this week to acknowledge volunteers from about 40 organisations. We have also this term instigated the Nelsonian Civic Award for which we have had two very worthy recipients in Brian Ramsay, nominated by Cr Mel Courtney and Penny Molnar, nominated by Deputy Mayor Pete Rainey. We also have a small grants programme to support community organisations. My thanks to every volunteer for your contribution to making Nelson such a special place.