Thank You to Our Volunteers

Published on 21 June 2022

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The Waitaki District Council has recognised our wonderful volunteers with a morning tea hosted at the Ōamaru Opera House. There are more than 100 volunteers helping the staff and public across our various cultural facilities including the Museum, Archives, Opera House, Library, and Forrester Gallery.

Some volunteers have given up their time for many years. Heather Machin is active across the community and has volunteered at Forrester Gallery on Friday afternoons for several years now “It is a great little town”.

Museum, Gallery and Archives Director Chloe Searle recognised the hard mahi and hopes the volunteers find their time fulfilling and meaningful. She also acknowledged that depending which volunteer is on helped her know which day of the week it was!

While many of our volunteers have helped for years, we also have new volunteers including year 12 student Zoe Francis. An avid reader, Zoe got her start from visiting the library - a lot. With an interest in becoming a librarian, Zoe’s time spent at the library is giving her an insight to the day-to-day operations for a possible future career path.

Opera House Event Coordinator Matthew Wicks is hugely appreciative of our wonderful volunteers. “You can’t put a price on their generosity and willingness to impart their knowledge on the community”.

If you are interested in becoming a volunteer, have a chat to our friendly staff at our cultural facilities. We’d love to hear from you.

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Chloe Searle and Heather Machin

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Zoe Francis

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Our wonderful volunteers