National Volunteer Week 2026
- 15 hours ago
- 8 min read
Your Year to Volunteer – Tōu tau ki te tūao
At the Young Onset Dementia Collective (YODC), National Volunteer Week is an opportunity to celebrate the extraordinary impact ordinary people can have when they choose to stand alongside others.
The 2026 theme, "Your Year to Volunteer – Tōu tau ki te tūao", reminds us that volunteering takes many forms. Sometimes it's preparing meals. Sometimes it's driving someone to an activity. Sometimes it's offering a listening ear, sharing a skill, making an introduction, opening a door, providing a space, or simply showing up.
Whatever form it takes, volunteering is ultimately about people.
And when we reflect on the journey of YODC, one truth stands out above all others.
It's the people ... It's the people ... It's the people.
The people who choose to care. The people who say yes. The people who see possibility where others see limitations. The people who make participation possible.
Many Faces - One Collective.
When people think about volunteering, they often picture someone giving their time to help others. At YODC, volunteering is much broader than that.
Our volunteer family includes retired people, working professionals, family members, friends, students, community supporters, skilled professionals and neighbours. It also includes people living with young onset dementia themselves.
That last group is particularly important.
Every Monday at Fair Food, members of our YODC Impact Collective volunteer alongside one another preparing meals that are distributed throughout the community. Together they help produce around 100 meals each week for people facing hardship.
These are not people receiving a service. They are people making a contribution. They are volunteers.
A diagnosis of dementia should never mean a person's contribution to society is over. We see the pride, purpose and sense of identity that comes from continuing to contribute, participate and be needed.
Our volunteers living with young onset dementia remind us that everyone has something to offer.
Volunteering Takes Many Forms
Not all volunteers wear volunteer name tags.
Sometimes volunteering looks like washing dishes, making coffee, helping with transport or supporting an activity.
Sometimes it looks like sharing expertise, facilities, resources, networks and opportunities.
Some of the most significant contributions to YODC have come from people who simply saw what was missing and decided to help. To name a few …
People like Michelle Blau and the team at Fair Food, who saw possibility where others might have seen limitation. Through their support, people living with young onset dementia have become valued contributors within a thriving community volunteer programme, helping prepare meals for people facing hardship across Auckland.
People like Jo Pilkington and the team at First Scene, who have generously shared their time, creativity, facilities and encouragement to help bring our Retro Lounge vision to life. Their belief that people living with dementia deserve opportunities for connection, creativity and participation has helped create a space where people can continue to be themselves and remain active members of their community.
People like Trish Fleming, Clinical Community Liaison Manager for West Auckland Hospice, who through a chance meeting became a passionate champion of our cause. Trish continues to connect people, organisations and opportunities, helping open doors and strengthen the community around our Collective.
These contributions may not always be recognised as volunteering, but they embody the very spirit of volunteering.
They are acts of generosity. They are acts of inclusion. They are acts of community leadership.
Most importantly, they create opportunities for people living with young onset dementia to participate, contribute and belong in ways that have too often been overlooked or considered impossible.
An Award-Winning Team
In 2025 our Monday team received the Fair Food Volunteer of the Year Award. In 2026 they were honoured again with a Minister of Health Volunteer Award.
While we are incredibly proud of these achievements, the awards tell only part of the story.
Behind every meal prepared, every outing attended, every programme delivered and every opportunity created is a network of people making it possible.
The real achievement is not the award itself. It is seeing people continue to contribute. It is seeing confidence rebuilt. It is seeing friendships formed. It is seeing purpose rediscovered. It is seeing people remain active participants in their communities.
The Volunteers Behind the Volunteers
One of the most important volunteer roles at YODC is often the least visible. Many of our volunteer support people work quietly in the background.
They make cups of tea. They prepare lunch. They provide transport. They offer reassurance. They encourage participation. They know when to step forward and when to step back.
Most importantly, they help people continue doing things for themselves for as long as possible.
That balance requires patience, empathy, compassion, understanding and often a healthy sense of humour.
These volunteers become trusted companions, teammates and friends.
They help create environments where people living with young onset dementia can continue to thrive.
The Ones Who Stay
There is another group of people we would like to acknowledge during National Volunteer Week.
Not because there are many of them. But because there are often far too few.
One of the difficult realities of dementia is that relationships frequently change after diagnosis.
People who once filled our lives can become less visible. Phone calls become less frequent. Invitations become less common. Social circles often become smaller.
Not always because people stop caring, but because many simply don't know what to say, what to do, or how to remain connected.
For many people living with young onset dementia, the experience of loss is not limited to memory or cognition. It can also include the loss of friendships, social networks and community connections. Which is why the people who stay matter so much.
The friend who keeps calling.
The neighbour who continues to knock on the door.
The former work colleague who still makes time for coffee.
The person who refuses to let a diagnosis define a relationship.
At YODC we have witnessed extraordinary examples of friendship.
People who provide transport.
People who attend appointments.
People who advocate.
People who check in.
People who ensure someone remains connected to their community and does not face their journey alone.
Some take on the significant responsibility of becoming an Enduring Power of Attorney, accepting legal, financial and welfare responsibilities that can extend over many years.
These are responsibilities most people would associate with family.
Yet some friends willingly step into these roles because there is no one else, or because they simply cannot imagine walking away.
Their contribution is extraordinary precisely because it is not common.
It represents friendship at its very best.
A quiet commitment to remain present when it would be easier not to.
To those who stay, thank you. Your presence matters more than you may ever know.
The Contribution We Rarely Count
At YODC we would also like to acknowledge the extraordinary contribution of family carers and whanau.
Most would never describe themselves as volunteers. They may simply say they are doing what needs to be done for someone they love.
Yet the reality is that countless hours of unpaid care are provided every week by husbands, wives, partners, children, siblings and whanau across New Zealand.
Transport. Advocacy. Appointments. Supervision. Encouragement. Household management. Financial support. Emotional support.
The list is endless. Much of it happens quietly and largely unseen.
While society often regards this as a family responsibility, it is important to recognise the enormous contribution carers make not only to the wellbeing of their loved ones, but also to our wider communities.
As governments increasingly look to families and communities to carry greater responsibility for care, it becomes even more important that the contribution of whanau carers is properly recognised, valued and supported.
At YODC we see the sacrifices carers make. Careers placed on hold. Reduced incomes. Interrupted retirement plans. Exhausted savings. Personal aspirations deferred.
The contribution of family carers deserves more than gratitude. It deserves recognition.
This National Volunteer Week, we acknowledge the extraordinary unpaid workforce of whanau carers who continue to show up every day, often without the support they need and rarely receiving the recognition they deserve.
We see you. We thank you.
What a Few of our Volunteers Say
"I would say to someone considering volunteering with YODC to definitely give it a go! It’s lots of fun and the people involved are absolutely lovely and a pleasure to be around. It can also be extremely beneficial to your own wellbeing and sense of purpose." (Carolyn - Volunteer)
"Volunteering with YODC is very rewarding. Participating in activities with young people with dementia in an environment that is supportive, non-judgemental, and stimulating, provides purpose, enjoyment, camaraderie, and the opportunity for them to feel valued, and make new friends." (Jan - Volunteer & wife of person living with YOD)
"Volunteering with YODC is a brush with the human condition that I have not had opportunity to encounter elsewhere. I am reminded that health should not be taken for granted. That our humanity does not cease when we get sick or incompetent. And to learn acceptance and openness in the face of difficulty, just as people with younger onset dementia demonstrate so aptly." (Janet – Volunteer)
Why We Need More Volunteers
As YODC continues to grow, so does the need for volunteer support.
The demand for age-appropriate opportunities for people living with young onset dementia continues to increase. Every new programme, outing, activity and work opportunity requires volunteers willing to stand alongside others.
We are not looking for experts. We are looking for people.
People with empathy.
People with compassion.
People with patience.
People with a sense of humour.
People who understand that everyone deserves the opportunity to contribute and belong.
Whether you can offer a few hours a month or a regular commitment, your time could make a meaningful difference to someone living with young onset dementia and their whanau.
This Could Be Your Year
National Volunteer Week reminds us that volunteering is not just about what we give.
It is also about what we gain.
Connection.
Friendship.
Purpose.
Perspective.
A deeper understanding of what truly matters.
To every volunteer who has walked alongside YODC, thank you.
Thank you for your generosity.
Thank you for your compassion.
Thank you for your belief in people.
Thank you for helping create opportunities where people living with young onset dementia can continue to participate, contribute and be all they can be for as long as possible.
And to those considering volunteering for the first time, perhaps this is your year.
Your Year to Volunteer – Tōu tau ki te tūao.
Because together we can build communities where a dementia diagnosis does not mean the end of purpose, contribution or belonging. The most important thing you can give is your time.
“The best present is your presence”
If you would like to learn more about becoming part of our volunteer whanau, we would love to hear from you.
Because sometimes the most important thing you can give is your presence. Drop us an email or PM via messenger. We'd love to have a chat. contact@yod.co.nz | https://www.facebook.com/yodcollective/
Read more about YOD Volunteers Join our volunteer team https://www.yod.co.nz/copy-of-yodc-impact-collective Where it all started https://www.yod.co.nz/story/spouses-speak-out YODC Volunteering at Fair Food https://www.yod.co.nz/story/do-good-feel-good-the-power-of-community
YODC Award winning volunteers https://www.yod.co.nz/story/volunteering-at-fair-food-where-no-one-is-defined-by-dementia +
YODC Christmas from the Heart https://www.yod.co.nz/story/christmas-from-the-heart
