Volunteer Meals on Wheels driver
Role description
Our Meals on Wheels service supports older, ill, and disabled people living at home who would otherwise struggle to provide healthy meals for themselves. We need volunteers keen to deliver hot meals and a friendly chat, to people in need across New Zealand.
Your tasks
Most of our drivers deliver meals once a week every two weeks, however shifts are flexible.
- Start your shift between 10:30am and 12pm.
- Pick up meals in your car.
- Deliver meals to people and have a brief chat at the door.
- Go home feeling good that you’ve helped someone out today.
Volunteer requirements and training
You’ll need to be a friendly person who has their own car and a full driver licence. We’ll train you in how to carry out the role and you’ll be supported by Red Cross volunteers or staff members.
Information about access to Meals on Wheels
Anyone who wants Meals on Wheels first speaks to their GP or other health professional. They assess eligibility, and send a referral to New Zealand Red Cross.
- Valid driver's licence
- Vehicle with valid registration (rego) and warrant of fitness (WoF)
- Two character references
"I always thought when I’d retire I’d do some sort of volunteer work, so when the time came, I signed up to be a Meals on Wheels driver."
Jenny, volunteer Meals on Wheels driver
We need volunteers keen to deliver hot meals and a friendly chat, to people in need across New Zealand.
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Well, the main part of the job
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is to collect meals and deliver them to people's door.
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But I guess we also provide
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a friendly face and a smile to people who
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might otherwise not see anyone during the course of the day.
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It's a pleasurable thing to do in itself,
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but also the sense of satisfaction that comes from making a contribution
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to something that's, you know, that's bigger than me.
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Each run,
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I guess, would take maybe, maybe an hour,
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but people can offer, you know,
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as many days of the week as they feel comfortable.
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Could be one day a week or one day a fortnight,
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so really, volunteers can choose a little bit
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about that.
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It's really a very simple,
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practical act of kindness in your local community,
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you need to be available during the late morning for an hour or two.
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You go to a pick-up point where you pick up a number of meals
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that might be between about six and 15 meals
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and then you deliver those meals to the people on your delivery run,
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who for whatever reason, are unable to prepare a hot,
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nutritious meal for themselves.
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I can’t fault them, they’re lovely. I've got somebody to talk to!
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I'm 92.
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I live on my own.
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And they come in and they give me life.
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If you're interested in becoming a volunteer Meals on Wheels driver,
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you can find out more
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or you can apply in two different ways.
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You could phone the Red Cross Contact Centre,
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which is 0800 Red Cross.
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So that's 0800 733 276.
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or you could go to our website, redcross.org.nz/volunteer
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