This Youth Week, we asked one of our newly elected young volunteer Area Councillors about what drew her to put herself forward for this role.

A university student based in Hamilton, Will Benefield's passion for helping others led him to join New Zealand Red Cross’ Disaster Welfare and Support Team (DWST) in 2024. His first deployment came soon after completing his training, in the aftermath of a devastating tornado in Mangawhai in January.

Samuel Parkinson first went into the Frankton Red Cross Shop as a volunteer 12 years ago, “I think I was at the point where, apart from looking for work, I had nothing else to do so I decided to volunteer.”

Peacemore Johannes became a Meals on Wheels volunteer after she was once so unwell she couldn’t cook. She vowed to volunteer to help others in the same situation.

Around the country, our staff, volunteers, members and whānau marked World Refugee Day and the contributions former refugees make to their communities. This is a snippet of some of these events.