Tēnā koutou katoa,
This is an open letter to all who volunteer at Auckland War Memorial Museum … for me to say thank you!
Sunday 15th through Saturday 21st June is New Zealand’s largest celebration of volunteering and civic participation, National Volunteer Week. To begin the week I tweeted last night:
“Celebrating some 300 volunteers @Auckland_Museum in National Volunteer Week - thank you, we could not open without you!”
The response on social media showed that many people share respect for volunteers and for the national culture of volunteering in Aotearoa New Zealand.
The national theme for this year’s week is: “Naku te rourou nau te rourou ka ora ai te tangata.” - “With your contribution and my contribution the people will live.”
This whakataukī refers to co-operation and the combination of resources needed to get ahead. It suggests that if we pool our ideas, with equal respect for all parties, we will get a superior result that will benefit everyone.
This week we celebrate all the hard work and experience that you – our volunteers – bring to Auckland War Memorial Museum. Literally, we could not get things done without your help; without you, we could not open to the public in the way that we are able to do. Together, you work cheerfully and efficiently across so many aspects of the organisation:
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from cataloguing to administration and filing
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by greeting and guiding
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through curatorial support
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and developing digital records
As volunteers you are active, engaged and making a massive input, more than 25,000 hours last year. We value your contribution to the culture, the knowledge, the style and the operations of the Museum; we also value the financial difference you make – equivalent to more than $535,000 last year, forecast to be some 10% higher this year, almost $2000 per volunteer!
Each and every volunteer is a true asset to us. On behalf of the Trust Board and the paid staff of the Museum, it is my privilege to record that we are forever grateful for all the work that is done … so willingly, cheerfully and well. Thank you all for your commitment to Auckland’s jewel; your efforts are in the very best national traditions and as such we are all conscious of the debt we owe our predecessors, since our founding by Aucklanders in 1852.
I take the opportunity to add a big thank you to Ros Currie, Manager of Volunteer Services, and Jemma Parker, co-ordinator of Volunteer Services, for their hard work in putting together such a fantastic framework within which the volunteers and their teamwork thrive.
Go, team – thank you, ka pai!
Ngā mihi nui,
Roy
Volunteering at Auckland Museum
Read more about the types of roles we offer, what it takes to be a volunteer, and the team who support more than 280 volunteers working at Auckland War Memorial Museum.
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Post by: Roy Clare
Roy Clare is the Director of Auckland War Memorial Museum. He came to New Zealand in 2011 from the United Kingdom where he was Chief Executive of the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) from 2007. The MLA's responsibilities included the accreditation of Museums, the designation of outstanding collections and the administration of a range of schemes to develop the strength and reputation of collections, and encourage their accessibility to people.
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