Nicki Turner

Volunteering Support and Engagement Advisor

Nicki was born and bred in Tauranga but has been away for 30 years, working in Pukekohe in the disabled and social service sector. She worked for Blind Low Vision in Needs Assessment for the midcentral area, and for IHC.

She and her husband took off for Australia for five years, working short term and travelling around the country. Her husband, a farmer, decided to semi-retire from farming and Nicki returned to the same job with Blind Low Vision when they returned to Tauranga in November 2023.

“I’ve always been involved in the volunteer space. It’s just what we do, we’re a family of volunteers. I’m looking forward to connecting with the local community and rebuilding networks having been away so long.”
She lives at Pyes Pā, but her favourite thing to do is walk their springer spaniel on the beach at the Mount.

Reach out to Nicki on nicki@socialink.org.nz or 021 225 2994

Looking After the Blade

It’s Conservation Week this week, and all over the Western Bay of Plenty volunteers are out in all weather laying traps and ensuring native birds and flora can survive. Conservation volunteer John Rowlandson spends hours each week trapping “the baddies” - stoats, possums, rats, feral cats - to protect his favourite place, The Blade at

By |2023-09-18T08:31:05+12:00August 16th, 2023|News, Volbop News, volunteer news, Volunteer Stories|Comments Off on Looking After the Blade

Kura Kai keeping families fed

Staff at SociaLink and Volunteering Services turned into chefs for a couple of days last week to provide meals for Kura Kai as their contribution to National Volunteer Week.In four teams they cooked up a tuna bake, pork ragu, spaghetti carbonara and butter chicken, making 48 meals for Kura Kai, with ingredients paid for

By |2023-06-22T13:35:57+12:00June 21st, 2023|News, Volbop News, Volunteer Stories|Comments Off on Kura Kai keeping families fed

Skyla helps the next generation of rowers

Skyla Still is at school at Ōtumoetai College, but she’s already volunteering her time to help the next generation of young rowers.At 17, she’s been with the rowing club for four years, and enjoys her sport so much she’s one of a group of young rowers who turn up every Sunday afternoon to take younger

By |2023-06-20T16:03:36+12:00June 20th, 2023|Volunteer Stories|Comments Off on Skyla helps the next generation of rowers

Making the most of their abilities

At Casita’s shop in Greerton, four young workers in their twenties are taking their lunch break. They’re all volunteers at the shop, one or two days a week, and they all have an intellectual disability, either global developmental delay or Down Syndrome. And they love their work. The shop was set up in a

By |2023-06-19T10:14:24+12:00June 18th, 2023|Volbop News, Volunteer Stories|Comments Off on Making the most of their abilities

Mel pitches in when emergency strikes

When the water started rising at Waihī Beach last month, local RSA manager and community volunteer Mel Gearon was ready to rescue flooded residents - and give them a hot meal and a place to rest. It was raining hard on May 29 at the beach when Mel had a call from a friend

By |2023-06-20T16:12:50+12:00June 18th, 2023|Volbop News, Volunteer Stories|Comments Off on Mel pitches in when emergency strikes

Lalangi turns volunteering into a career

In her native Sri Lanka, Lalangi was a quantity surveyor in construction working in a high-pressure environment when she and her husband decided to try a different country and culture. New Zealand seemed like the ideal place, quiet and calmer than Sri Lanka. They arrived in 2015 and lived in Auckland for several

By |2023-06-18T11:53:47+12:00June 18th, 2023|Volunteer Stories|Comments Off on Lalangi turns volunteering into a career

Kathy has trouble saying no!

Kathy Webb says she’s always had trouble saying no when asked to volunteer for anything. The current chair of Western Bay of Plenty Neighbourhood Support, and a Street Coordinator in Bellevue, is now in her 70s but shows no signs of giving up contributing yet. It was soon after she joined Neighbourhood Support that

By |2023-06-18T11:57:16+12:00June 18th, 2023|Volunteer Stories|Comments Off on Kathy has trouble saying no!
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