Events

VolCan Office Closed

Our office will be closed for the Holidays, re-opening on Monday 6 January 2025.

Coffee & Chats Peer Support

Host: Christchurch Netball Centre
Venue: Nga Puna Wai Sportshub, Augustine Drive, Halswell
Cost: Free event

On the first Thursday of each month, we hold a Coffee & Chats peer support session for those who manage or coordinate a volunteer team, hosted each time by a different community organisation. This is an occasion to network with others from local not-for-profit groups and talk all things volunteering, and includes the opportunity to ask questions, share experiences and support each other as we navigate the ever-changing community sector.

RSVP: Via email - it is essential that you RSVP for these events, please.

Newcomers Volunteer Expo 2025

Facilitator: Volunteering Canterbury, in conjunction with Multicultural Recreation and Community Centre, Welcoming Communities and Christchurch City Council
Venue: Multicultural Recreation and Community Centre, 455 Hagley Avenue, Christchurch Central
Cost: Free event

New to Christchurch? Come along to the Newcomers Expo to find out how volunteering can help you make connections and gain valuable skills to help you settle in. Meet fellow newcomers, other community members and a variety of local organisations who can help you find your place in the community through volunteering.

Governance Bites: Non-Profit Boards Adding Value

Facilitator: Garth Nowland-Foreman, from LEAD Centre for Not for Profit Governance and Leadership
Venue: Aldersgate Centre, 309 Durham Street North, Christchurch Central (Please enter the Aldersgate Centre from the rear door, via the car park. This can be accessed from Chester Street West. Spaces within the carpark are available to Governance Bites attendees from 5pm onwards.)
Cost: Free event

What’s the secret to Governance that really makes a difference for a non-profit organisation? In this interactive session, you will learn how your Board can be less boring and achieve more than just going through the motions or check up on what others are doing. Two important tools are offered to make this possible, which provide the foundation for all the following Governance Bites in this series. Believe it or not this doesn’t involve a call for greater commitment or doing more and more work as Board members. Sessions will run from 5.30pm to 7.00pm. However, doors open and pizza bites are available from 5.00pm!

RSVP: Registrations essential, via email

Te Taiao Volunteer Expo

Facilitator: Volunteering Canterbury, in conjunction with: Christchurch Envirohub, Conservation Volunteers New Zealand, Climate Action Campus and Christchurch City Council.
Venue: Climate Action Campus, 180 Avonside Drive, Christchurch
Cost: Free event

Are you passionate about conservation? Would you like to get involved in volunteering for like-minded groups working for a sustainable future? Join us at this free expo event and be part of this unique opportunity to connect with others in the conservation space.

Coffee & Chats Peer Support

Host: Christchurch City Council Graffiti Programme
Venue: 180 Smith Street, Linwood
Cost: Free event

On the first Thursday of each month, we hold a Coffee & Chats peer support session for those who manage or coordinate a volunteer team, hosted each time by a different community organisation. This is an occasion to network with others from local not-for-profit groups and talk all things volunteering, and includes the opportunity to ask questions, share experiences and support each other as we navigate the ever-changing community sector.

RSVP: Via email - it is essential that you RSVP for these events, please.

Governance Bites: Board & Management - Getting the Balance Right

Facilitator: Garth Nowland-Foreman, from LEAD Centre for Not for Profit Governance and Leadership
Venue: Aldersgate Centre, 309 Durham Street North, Christchurch Central (Please enter the Aldersgate Centre from the rear door, via the car park. This can be accessed from Chester Street West. Spaces within the carpark are available to Governance Bites attendees from 5pm onwards.)
Cost: Free event

This session gets down to the nitty-gritty of good governance, dealing with the most common questions and concerns that non-profit leaders have about boards. How can boards and managers work constructively together? Is there a clear dividing line between governing and day-to-day management? If not, how do we sort it out in practice? Does that change over time, and is it affected by the life-cycle stage of the non-profit organisation? Sessions will run from 5.30pm to 7.00pm. However, doors open and pizza bites are available from 5.00pm!

RSVP: Registrations essential, via email

Tautoko Workshop: Treasurers' Induction

Facilitator: Community Capacity Accounting
Venue: St Albans Community Centre, Colombo Street (on-site parking accessed via Caledonian Road)
Cost: Free event

You’ve had your arm twisted to be the treasurer for your club or group but don’t feel confident about it. If that sounds familiar, then this workshop is for you! The training covers: what a treasurer should and shouldn’t be responsible for; understanding financial information; important financial indicators for not-for-profits.

Register: Via email

Coffee & Chats Peer Support

Host: Kairos Food Rescue
Venue: 284 Tuam Street, Christchurch
Cost: Free event

On the first Thursday of each month, we hold a Coffee & Chats peer support session for those who manage or coordinate a volunteer team, hosted each time by a different community organisation. This is an occasion to network with others from local not-for-profit groups and talk all things volunteering, and includes the opportunity to ask questions, share experiences and support each other as we navigate the ever-changing community sector.

RSVP: Via email - it is essential that you RSVP for these events, please.

Tautoko Workshop: Fraud

Host: Community Capacity Accounting
Venue: St Albans Community Centre, Colombo Street (on-site parking accessed via Caledonian Road)
Cost: Free event

So you have two signatories for cheques and online transactions. Is this enough to protect you from fraud? It is a Board/Committee’s responsibility to have processes in place to ensure that money or items do not go walkabout. This workshop covers the key danger areas and way to manage them that are appropriate for an organisation your size.

RSVP: Via email

Governance Bites: Better Board Decision Making

Facilitator: Garth Nowland-Foreman, from LEAD Centre for Not for Profit Governance and Leadership
Venue: Aldersgate Centre, 309 Durham Street North, Christchurch Central (Please enter the Aldersgate Centre from the rear door, via the car park. This can be accessed from Chester Street West. Spaces within the carpark are available to Governance Bites attendees from 5pm onwards.)
Cost: Free event

Non-profit boards only have authority as a group. What’s the different dynamics between individual and group decision-making? And what key difference in approach is required when making routine decision, and when looking to innovate to at least ensure we know what all the options are (beyond the same old-same old)? How can understanding the three key ‘mindsets’ that people can bring to governance decision-making help us make better decisions, and help us ensure we are asking the right questions. This session will provide participants with two useful tools that will help you in making better group decisions. Sessions will run from 5.30pm to 7.00pm. However, doors open and pizza bites are available from 5.00pm!

RSVP: Registrations essential, via email

Coffee & Chats Peer Support

Host: Pregnancy Choice
Venue: 445 Colombo Street, Sydenham
Cost: Free event

On the first Thursday of each month, we hold a Coffee & Chats peer support session for those who manage or coordinate a volunteer team, hosted each time by a different community organisation. This is an occasion to network with others from local not-for-profit groups and talk all things volunteering, and includes the opportunity to ask questions, share experiences and support each other as we navigate the ever-changing community sector.

RSVP: Via email - it is essential that you RSVP for these events, please.

Governance Bites: Keeping it Legal

Facilitator: Garth Nowland-Foreman, from LEAD Centre for Not for Profit Governance and Leadership
Venue: Aldersgate Centre, 309 Durham Street North, Christchurch Central (Please enter the Aldersgate Centre from the rear door, via the car park. This can be accessed from Chester Street West. Spaces within the carpark are available to Governance Bites attendees from 5pm onwards.)
Cost: Free event

While staying on the right side of the law is not the end of your work as a non-profit board member, it is a good place to start. In this session we will briefly look at how laws (written and unwritten) impact on your organisation. We will also remind ourselves what being incorporated means, why it is important, and how to avoid losing its crucial protections. Finally, we will uncover why Conflicts of Interest are not a problem, but how we deal with them can be if we don’t follow three simple rules. Sessions will run from 5.30pm to 7.00pm. However, doors open and pizza bites are available from 5.00pm!

RSVP: Registrations essential, via email

Tautoko Workshop: Engaging Youth on our Volunteer Teams

Facilitator: Volunteering Canterbury
Venue: St Albans Community Centre, Colombo Street (on-site parking accessed via Caledonian Road)
Cost: Free event

This workshop will look at why and how to engage youth volunteers, including the benefits and challenges to doing so.

Register: Via email

Coffee & Chats Peer Support

Host: Blind Low Vision NZ
Venue: 96 Bristol Street, St Albans, Christchurch
Cost: Free event

On the first Thursday of each month, we hold a Coffee & Chats peer support session for those who manage or coordinate a volunteer team, hosted each time by a different community organisation. This is an occasion to network with others from local not-for-profit groups and talk all things volunteering, and includes the opportunity to ask questions, share experiences and support each other as we navigate the ever-changing community sector.

RSVP: Via email - it is essential that you RSVP for these events, please.

Volunteer Recognition Awards 2025

Facilitator: Volunteering Canterbury
Venue: Salvation Army, 853 Colombo Street

Our Volunteer Recognition Awards are presented each year during National Volunteer Week. Check our Awards page for more information.

Governance Bites: Confident Oversight of Finances

Facilitator: Garth Nowland-Foreman, from LEAD Centre for Not for Profit Governance and Leadership
Venue: Aldersgate Centre, 309 Durham Street North, Christchurch Central (Please enter the Aldersgate Centre from the rear door, via the car park. This can be accessed from Chester Street West. Spaces within the carpark are available to Governance Bites attendees from 5pm onwards.)
Cost: Free event

What exactly is the board’s role in oversight of the finances? What are Treasurers actually responsible for? How can you properly fulfil your obligations without micro-managing? What should we look for in financial reporting? What are the financial ‘red flags’ we need to keep an eye out for? What does every board member need to know about their finances? Why can’t we just rely on the audit or review? Sessions will run from 5.30pm to 7.00pm. However, doors open and pizza bites are available from 5.00pm!

RSVP: Registrations essential, via email

Governance Bites: The Board's Role as a Great Employer

Facilitator: Garth Nowland-Foreman, from LEAD Centre for Not for Profit Governance and Leadership
Venue: Aldersgate Centre, 309 Durham Street North, Christchurch Central (Please enter the Aldersgate Centre from the rear door, via the car park. This can be accessed from Chester Street West. Spaces within the carpark are available to Governance Bites attendees from 5pm onwards.)
Cost: Free event

What can the board delegate, and what does it need to stay on top of? How do we balance our role in arms-length, independent supervision, and the need for engaged, collaborative support? How do we effectively balance a culture of checking and of cheer-leading? What are the critical elements of a ‘good employer’, and how does it become great? And what does that look like, when staff and volunteers are remote? Sessions will run from 5.30pm to 7.00pm. However, doors open and pizza bites are available from 5.00pm!

RSVP: Registrations essential, via email

Tautoko Workshop: Dealing with Difficult Conversations

Facilitator: Chris Beardsley, Performance Matters
Venue: St Albans Community Centre, Colombo Street (on-site parking accessed via Caledonian Road)
Cost: Free event

This workshop will provide insights to help participants deal appropriately with difficult conversations and adopt an approachable, open and empathetic communication style so issues are confronted, others are influenced positively and relationships are successfully maintained. The additional benefits are that people learn how to be more authentic, handle stress and anxiety, increase the amount of discretionary energy for the job and generate greater productivity.

Register: Via email

Governance Bites: The Secret of Effective Meetings

Facilitator: Garth Nowland-Foreman, from LEAD Centre for Not for Profit Governance and Leadership
Venue: Aldersgate Centre, 309 Durham Street North, Christchurch Central (Please enter the Aldersgate Centre from the rear door, via the car park. This can be accessed from Chester Street West. Spaces within the carpark are available to Governance Bites attendees from 5pm onwards.)
Cost: Free event

As they say, it’s easy to “take minutes and waste hours”. Typical agendas actually make good meetings more difficult, and who knows the difference between individual decision-making vs the group decision-making needed on boards? Can we be more efficient at our meetings? Maybe even more effective? And perhaps even actually enjoy them? It’s all possible and this participatory workshop will offer several practical tools to help make it happen. Sessions will run from 5.30pm to 7.00pm. However, doors open and pizza bites are available from 5.00pm!

RSVP: Registrations essential, via email

Coffee & Chats Peer Support

Host: Woolston Development Project
Venue: 497 Ferry Road, Woolston
Cost: Free event

On the first Thursday of each month, we hold a Coffee & Chats peer support session for those who manage or coordinate a volunteer team, hosted each time by a different community organisation. This is an occasion to network with others from local not-for-profit groups and talk all things volunteering, and includes the opportunity to ask questions, share experiences and support each other as we navigate the ever-changing community sector.

RSVP: Via email - it is essential that you RSVP for these events, please.

Governance Bites: Getting the Right People on Board and the Wrong People Overboard

Facilitator: Garth Nowland-Foreman, from LEAD Centre for Not for Profit Governance and Leadership
Venue: Aldersgate Centre, 309 Durham Street North, Christchurch Central (Please enter the Aldersgate Centre from the rear door, via the car park. This can be accessed from Chester Street West. Spaces within the carpark are available to Governance Bites attendees from 5pm onwards.)
Cost: Free event

All you need to know about recruiting non-profit and community board members. What makes a good board member, where do you find them, and how do you get them interested in your organisation? What are the three biggest traps in recruitment? And how do you get the most of new board members after they are on-board? And then … this is the tough stuff … despite our best intentions and event efforts, we can still end up with the wrong people on board for various reasons. How do you tackle the difficult tasks of ‘sacking’ board member? After all, board members are ‘just volunteers’. How do you actually get the result you need, but also still act with some grace? How can succession planning actually happen in practice in small organisations, and how do you deal with ‘founder syndrome’ when founders have out-lasted their value for the organisation and may even be holding it back? Sessions will run from 5.30pm to 7.00pm. However, doors open and pizza bites are available from 5.00pm!

RSVP: Registrations essential, via email

Governance Bites: Not-for-Profits Getting Real about Strategy

Facilitator: Garth Nowland-Foreman, from LEAD Centre for Not for Profit Governance and Leadership
Venue: Aldersgate Centre, 309 Durham Street North, Christchurch Central (Please enter the Aldersgate Centre from the rear door, via the car park. This can be accessed from Chester Street West. Spaces within the carpark are available to Governance Bites attendees from 5pm onwards.)
Cost: Free event

Everyone wants to be strategic these days. It is used to refer to deceit and trickery in reality TV shows. As an adjective it makes any object or activity sound very important. But does it actually have any practical meaning left? What is a strategy and how is it different from a plan? Where does mot strategy come from, and what is a realistic approach to developing a strategy for your organisation? And what really is the Board’s role in strategy (especially where there also is staff)? Participation in non-profit boards provides individuals with an opportunity to influence impact in our city. This workshop offers practical tools and approaches to help a board lead organisation strategy. Sessions will run from 5.30pm to 7.00pm. However, doors open and pizza bites are available from 5.00pm!

RSVP: Registrations essential, via email

Tautoko Workshop: Storytelling

Facilitator: Sharon Moreham
Venue: St Albans Community Centre, Colombo Street (on-site parking accessed via Caledonian Road)
Cost: Free event

Learn how to tell a compelling story about what your organisation does, and the difference it makes.

RSVP: Via email

Governance Bites: Keeping Board Members Engaged and the Role of the Chair

Facilitator: Garth Nowland-Foreman, from LEAD Centre for Not for Profit Governance and Leadership
Venue: Aldersgate Centre, 309 Durham Street North, Christchurch Central (Please enter the Aldersgate Centre from the rear door, via the car park. This can be accessed from Chester Street West. Spaces within the carpark are available to Governance Bites attendees from 5pm onwards.)
Cost: Free event

Chairs have one of the most demanding jobs in a non-profit. What is realistic and what are the essentials? Can we look again at sharing roles around the board table? One of the key roles of a chair is to facilitate the board as a group – especially in its core role as group decision-makers. And given participation is the purpose if you are going to bother calling a meeting, how can a chair best facilitate real participation that will energise and enthuse board members, and get the best possible decisions from a diverse group? We will look at some practical tools and frameworks to help make this happen in real world non-profit boards. Sessions will run from 5.30pm to 7.00pm. However, doors open and pizza bites are available from 5.00pm!

RSVP: Registrations essential, via email