Volunteers have always been an important and vibrant part of the ministry of Tira Tūhāhā Prison Chaplaincy Aotearoa.  While the last few years have presented some difficulties for regular involvement by volunteers at many of the prison sites, over the past six months it has been exciting to see the gradual return of volunteers to most sites as they begin running group services again and our assistant chaplains and pastoral visitors can now meet with individual prisoners.

Alongside the recommencement of volunteer involvement, and as part of our commitment to Tū Rangatira (professionalism), we have rolled out a new training programme to support and strengthen all volunteers across the country.  This new initiative focuses on two key areas of our work - training our volunteers in the Code of Conduct with real-life scenarios, and a session on how to run good group services (our church services and Bible studies). To date, 442 volunteers have participated in the new training programme and the feedback has been enthusiastic and overwhelmingly positive. 

Some of the comments from volunteers who have attended the training sessions include:

“The training was very beneficial and informative, answering a lot of questions I had.”

“It was an excellent training day.  Very inspiring and great guidelines.”

“It was amazing! Everyone is on the same page now regarding the Code of Conduct and expectations (of volunteers). The chaplains were excellent in their presentation.”

We’re thrilled with the feedback and enthusiasm shown by volunteers in our training events and know that the men and women who participate in the group services and kanohi ki te kanohi (one-to-one) sessions with our volunteers will benefit as a result.