See our volunteer vacancies here!

About Volunteering

Volunteers invested a collective 12,000 hours in the Soup Kitchen in the past 12 months. We would like to thank each and every one for their hard work and commitment.

Volunteers have been involved with the Soup Kitchen since its inception, and continue to provide hands-on help to all aspects of the Kitchen.

Regular Volunteering: weekly, fortnightly & monthly

The majority of our volunteers help out in the dining room at the Soup Kitchen serving meals. Generally volunteers are rostered on once a fortnight or once a month. Please note that volunteers helping in the Dining Room need to be 15 years or older.

Breakfast
Two volunteers help in the Soup Kitchen each morning from 7.20–8.30am, Monday–Saturday to serve soup, bread, tea, coffee, fruit and milo.

Dinner
Between five and seven volunteers work as a team with Soup Kitchen staff to help serve dinner to our guests and assist in the kitchen 4.20–6pm, Monday–Saturday. Every effort has been made to make the dining room a warm, inviting and comfortable. Volunteers play a significant role in creating this environment through the friendly service they provide to our guests.

Soup Hub
A small computer suite for Soup Kitchen community use operates on weekday afternoons. Volunteers offer assistance with basic IT skills, and help supervise the Hub. The Hub is open on Mondays, from 12.30–3 pm.

Bread Collection
A volunteer collects and transports bread donated by Wellington City New World to the Kitchen using their own vehicle (7am, Monday–Saturday). Volunteers commit to one day a week.

One-off, Workplace Volunteering & Opportunities for Rangatahi

We always endeavour to find opportunities for willing volunteers to support our mahi. Here are some of the ways you can get involved. 

Food Day Appeal & one off events and activities
Volunteers assist with a range of one-off events, such as our twice-yearly Food Day Appeals at Island Bay New World, our annual Open Day, one-off food collections and fundraising dinners.

Workplace Volunteering
While can be quite difficult for us to find meaningful work for a large team on a specific day, especially in our Kitchen. Do please get in touch with us if you are looking for a team volunteering opportunity – we’ll have a chat about your ideas and talents, and which projects we currently have underway.

We have individuals from workplaces volunteering with us doing everything from collecting in our Annual Street Appeal, running a workplace food collection, hosting a bake sale or supporting a fundraising activity. If your organisation has given you a volunteer day, please contact us. It may just be that your special skills are a perfect fit for our organisation.

Other ways to volunteer
The Soup Kitchen also welcomes volunteers who may have skills or ideas that can help in other ways. If you think you would like to help out in a way not listed here, please share your talents!