Thank you for your interest in Volunteering at Hastings & Districts SPCA Sometimes it’s not possible to make a financial contribution, but you can still help the animals by becoming a Volunteer and donating your time toward looking after the animals in our care. It’s rewarding work, as you’ll be helping to improve the lives of those who can’t help themselves. As a volunteer at the SPCA, you’ll gain skills that you’ll be able to use for a life time, such as health and safety around animals, team work and cooperation, empathy and contributing to the improvement of your community. about our shelter Hastings & Districts SPCA is volunteer run organisation which provides help to animals and people 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We promote life-long adoptions, responsible pet ownership and aim to educate the Hastings & Districts public on animal welfare issues. We handle over 1,200 animals per annum. Despite the fact that we serve an important role in the community, we receive no Government funding, Lotteries Commission funding, nor National Body funding, and thus, we’re entirely dependent on our own fundraising and the generosity of the Hastings & Districts public. Volunteer with us! We have a staff of 2 full time people and 3 part time, including our Branch Inspector. The staff are responsible for all dealings with the public, as well as investigating complaints of neglect or cruelty and manning our Animal Ambulance service. Contacting us We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals. Immanuel Kant Phone Email Web Post Location Open Hours 06 878 8733 [email protected] www.spcahastings.org.nz PO Box 930, Hastings 4156 8 Heathcote Road, Hastings 10:30am - 2:30pm, Daily Find out how you can help make a difference Shelter Helpers This is a vitally important role and put simply, our Shelter couldn’t look after the many animals that come into our care without people like you. The first step in becoming a Shelter Helper is to fill out a Volunteer Application form - available on our website or the Shelter (addresses overleaf). Volunteers must be 16 years of age or over due to OSH requirements, younger people must be accompanied by a responsible adult. Once you’ve filled in your Volunteer Application, please bring it to the Shelter where you can meet the staff and discuss what shifts are currently available. Shelter Helpers generally come in for a ‘shift’, from 9am – 1pm, and we stop for morning tea around 10am. Ideally, we’d ask that Shelter Helpers to commit to particular days where possible, so we can be sure we have adequate care for the animals each day, but we also understand that everyone has commitments, so we ask that you let us know in advance if you’re not able to make it on your set day. Each morning, the animals are given ‘room service’, which involves cleaning of the enclosures, washing food dishes, bedding, litter trays, toys and so on. Full training is provided and you will be given all you require to complete your set tasks. As well as regular Shelter Helpers, we also need Reliever Volunteers who can be called on to ‘fill in’ when any of our helpers is away or sick. If you’d like to help at the shelter in some way, but can’t commit to regular days or mornings, we’d still love to hear from you as there’s so much you could do to help the Shelter and the animals. Other ways to help We need regular dog walkers and animal cuddlers. It’s important for the animals to receive regular exercise and socialisation with people to ensure the best chance of a successful re-homing. If you’re a dab hand at DIY, there are always maintenance jobs needing attention at our shelter, and your expertise would be most appreciated. As we have to fundraise to keep the shelter in operation, we always need people to help at our many fundraising events. These events are fun and aimed at encouraging participation, as well as earning much needed funds for our Branch. So if you’re not able to assist at the shelter, being a fundraising volunteer is another valuable way you can contribute. However you want to help, please get in touch with us via the details overleaf.