Not sure about something over the past four decades, Heather Thomas and Jill Kearns have said “ask us”.
Together it’s been their privilege to volunteer at the local Citizens Advice Bureau, offering their advice to empower clients who visit or call the 0800 number sometimes “with the weight on their shoulders”.
Even with the ebb and flow of immigration, employment, tenancy, and consumer rights, rules, and regulations across six different governments, their knowledge of the subjects for their clients are brimming like the pamphlets displayed in the waiting area.
Heather and Jill, both in their 70s, were recently awarded for their 20 and 40-year services respectively.
Jill got into the CAB 18 months after the first Nelson office opened in a small prefab building at the top of Trafalgar St. Since then, she has seen the service move to Millers Ave, Paru Paru Rd and its current Richmond premises.
She is Nelson’s longest-serving CAB volunteer and one of the few who has been involved since her 30s.
“I just thought I'd like to be a volunteer, give something back to the community, and so I signed up to train and then became a fully-fledged volunteer,” she says.
“Every duty that I work, I learn something, and I think most of our volunteers learn something from looking into people's problems and finding the answer for them.
“Some people come in and you can tell by their body language that they've got the weight of the world on their shoulders, and when we help them you can tell by their body language that it's such a relief for them, and they go away smiling.”
For Heather, who lives in Nelson and has held senior roles locally and nationally, volunteering at CAB and a “large number” of other local organisations, has been compelled from her parents ethos.
Which is “giving back to your community was the non-monetary tax that you paid for living in a supportive society”.
“I get such a kick out of having a chat with somebody, and they're so grateful to have an independent person that they trust to discuss their issues with,” she says.
“There is no typical day, and that's one of the things that I enjoy, you never know what you're going to get asked when you go to work.”
Heather says consumer issues have consistently featured among the top five enquiries.
“New Zealand has excellent laws for that, but people don't know about them, however over the 20 years, there's been a lot more knowledge about the Consumer Guarantees Act.
“Relationships, employment and rental housing are top ones at the moment.”
She underlines CAB’s nationwide data collection helps identify trends and advocate for change, including contributing to initiatives such as the Warmer Kiwi Homes programme, which offers grants for household heating and insulation.
“Everything we do nationally is documented, so we can go to the government and say ‘we've noticed there's been a spike in problems with rental housing, can we make a law change here?’,” she says.
“We can say there's 400 people in this town who've asked us, we’re specific about those things so we can contribute to making New Zealand better.”
