Ashburton Courier: June 30, 2022

NEWS
8 Ashburton Courier, June 30, 2022
www.ashburtoncourier.co.nz
Helping role behind the scenes
‘‘Let it outsix inches, take it in six inches,
that needstogoup, that needstogo
down.’’
No, these arenot thewords from asong
from one of the Variety Theatre Ashburton
shows, butthey are words familiar to
Yvonne Harrison, one of thepeople
behind thescenes of the Variety Theatre
Ashburtonand the AshburtonEvent
Centre.
Yvonne is thismonth’s Volunteering
Mid&SouthCanterburyand the Hotel
AshburtonVolunteer of the Month.
Yvonne gotinvolved in the Performing
ArtsTrust in1998 as theyset aboutraising
funds to bring the Braided Rivers Trust
Event Centretolife.
Yvonnewas willing to give anythingago
to raise funds from guidingbehind­thescenes
tours of the theatreto riding abike
at thegym.
Volunteering has been abig part of
Yvonne’s life along withfamily and more
than 50 years nursing, including29years
working nightshift at Rosebank
residential carefacility.
Yvonne volunteered withthings her
three children wereinvolvedinlikethe
kindergarten and did this for 17 years.
She said if she is partof something she
‘‘likes to be in boots and all’’.
Her involvement with the Variety
Theatre Ashburton andthe event centre
has leadtoher family also getting
involved, in factinthe recent show ‘Born
Free The Oscar Winners’ five of her family
were involved.
Her volunteering at the event centre has
her in afront of thehouse role, she is an
usher and she said they arealways
needing more volunteers to helpin this
role and if peopleareinterested theycan
makecontact withthe eventcentre.
While Yvonne does get to see some of
Resettlementsupportcontinues
ImmigrationNew Zealand
(INZ) has extended its
contract with Safer Mid
Canterbury to provide refugee
settlement services in the
district.
The new contract begins
tomorrow.
The remaining eight
refugee resettlement
locations have also been
announced and will continue
to be provided by the New
Zealand Red Cross (NZRC).
New Zealand Red Cross are
delighted to continue their
work withresettling refugees
in Palmerston North, Levin,
Masterton,Wellington,
Yvonne Harrison.
the showwhile ushering, ushers also keep
an eye on the audiencetoensure there are
no behaviour issues or medical eventsto
attend to.
Yvonneisresponsible for organisingthe
rosterofvolunteers to act as ushers at
shows,funeral and other events, it’sabig
job especially at this timewhen
volunteers can call in sick or need to
isolate.
Yvonnehas attended morethan90% of
the events held atthe event centre.She is
in acrucial rolewith the team of volunteer
ushers ensuring guestshave an enjoyable
experience.
As well as being responsible for
organising sufficientushers for each event
and ensuring the audience is seated in
time forthe event to start, Yvonne liaises
Nelson, Blenheim, Dunedin,
and Invercargill.
Irrigation New Zealand
general manager, refugee and
migrantservices Fiona
Whiteridge saidthere was a
productive relationship with
NZRC in providing
resettlementservicesand we
are pleased to have NZRC
continuing to make apositive
impacton the livesofrefugees
in AotearoaNewZealandin
these eight locations.
‘‘We announced three new
refugee settlement location
providers for Auckland,
Hamilton, Christchurch, and a
contract renewal for
Ashburton and Timaru
providers to provide
settlementservicesto
refugees from July 1, 2022.
‘‘Those providers are:
Kāhui Tū Kaha (Auckland),
Hamilton Multicultural
Services Trust (Hamilton),
Purapura Whetu Trust
(Christchurch), Safer Mid
Canterbury (Ashburton),
Presbyterian Support South
Canterbury (Timaru).’’
She said NZRC were
pleased to be continuing with
their resettlement services in
the eight locations and
respect the decision to bring a
more diverse range of service
with stage managementand the technical
team, providing clearance for the event to
start.
Yvonne alsoassists with catering at the
theatre, this could be making sandwiches
after ashow or her much sought­after dish
the set­up crews ask for. She also helps
with thecleaning.
As well as these roles Yvonne hasbeen
the wardrobe mistress for many showsover
many years and is stillone of the people
who make or alter the costumes for shows
such as the beaded dresses in “Born Free”.
She loves sewing and is extremely goodat
it.
Hervolunteering isn’t limited to the
event centre and Variety Theatre
Ashburton,she also volunteers in their
Party People shop washing, mending, and
ironing the 100s of outfits they hire out.
Party People also welcome volunteers to
help; their shop is open Wednesday
12­2.30pm and 5­7pm and Thursdays 5­7pm.
When Yvonne isn’t in one of these places
she could be found packing groceries for
the St Vincent De Paul Foodbank, knitting
for babies at Ashburton or Middlemore
(Auckland) hospitals or looking after the
altar linen or volunteering in other ways at
her church.
Shehas been atrust member at the
Ashburton EventCentre since 1998, Front
of House co­ordinator since 2008. Shehas
been president of the VarietyTheatre
Ashburton twice and been awarded Life
Membership of theVariety Theatre.
If you areaNotfor Profit organisation and
have avolunteer/s whoyou would like to
nominate for the VolunteeringMid &South
Canterbury/ Te Rōpū Tūao itewaenga o
Waitaha andthe Hotel Ashburton Volunteer
of the Month email
manager­midmc@vmsc.org.nz
providers to support the
resettlement of refugeesfor
Auckland, Hamilton, and
Christchurch.
The new contracts begin on
July 1, 2022, which will
consequently markthe new
changes to these contractsfor
allproviders includingan
increase from 12monthstoup
to 24monthsofsettlement
support for refugees, as well
as an extension of assistance
for families, andtheir
sponsors, whohavebeen
approved to come to New
Zealand under the ‘Refugee
Family Support Category’
visa.
OUT AND ABOUT
JULY1
Rakaia SportsAwards.The
biennial awards will recognise
achievements from 2020 and 2021
and will be presented at the Rakaia
Golf Club. All of the finalists are
either Rakaia residents or
affiliated to aRakaia club.
Ashburton College Astronomical
Observatory open night.
Openfor publicviewing of the
nightsky7.30pmifskies are clear.
Dress warmly and come along to
the Ashburton College
observatory, WalnutAvenue,
Ashburton.
JULY 2
MtSomersGreat Gatsby Ball
celebration in the Mt SomersHall.
The eventwillstart at 7.30pm and
go tilllate. Local duo Landgirls to
play, followedbythe Black Velvet
Band. Tickets cost $60. Supper is
included, licensed bar.All funds
raised will go to theMt Somers
swimming pool committeetohelp
with buildinganewfenceand
general upkeepofthe community
pool. Contact Nina (0274052985)
or Ailie (0274915154)for tickets.
JULY 5
DairyWomen’s Network calf
rearing expo in Ashburton for dairy
farmers and calf rearers. The
event, at the Hotel Ashburton is
oneoffour nationwide showcasing
best practice and recent science
being held around the country. It
includes speakers Seales Winslow
nutrition and qualitymanager
NatalieHughes, andAgriVantage
technical adviser and nutritionist
Natalie Chrystal and arange of
exhibitors.Visitdwn.co.nz/events
to register.
JULY 16
Geraldine Floral Art Club will be
hosting a‘Deck thehall’ display.
Memberswill be display an
exhibition of traditional and
contemporaryChristmas designs.
Saint Andrews Church Hall,
Wilson Street, Geraldine.
Admission $10, Children free.
JULY 22 TO 24
AshburtonGlowinthe Park from
6.00pmtilldark. Athree-night
spectacularoflights at theTinwald
Domain, including The Plains
Vintage Railway &Historical
Museum area. Organised by EA
Networks andAshburton District
Council.