CAB Queenstown - Supporting the Community and Each Other

Our Story is not about recognising one volunteer; it is about recognising the incredible team of volunteers who are the heart and soul of our CAB service here in Queenstown. Without them, we simply could not survive.

One of the things I love most as a manager is watching this group come together. They share ideas, laugh together, challenge each other, support each other and ultimately create a welcoming environment where clients feel heard and valued. They are our service. To really understand our team, you need to meet some of them.

Steph is a young English woman who now calls New Zealand home alongside her stonemason partner. She works at Happiness House, is studying further in the social services sector, and somehow still finds time to volunteer half a day a week with us. Steph brings warmth, curiosity and a calm energy to the team.

Diva, originally from Mumbai, India, joined us only a few months ago but arrived with enough enthusiasm for all of Queenstown combined. Despite regularly working 50-plus hours a week, she wanted more connection and community, and CAB gained an absolute superstar. Diva has quickly become our unofficial social media queen and was even recruited by the National Office as one of the faces of their Youth Week campaign. She also speaks Hindi, which has been hugely valuable for many of our clients. We are still trying to figure out when she actually sleeps.

Helen is a proud Kiwi originally from the North Island but now settled in Queenstown with her husband, one of her children and a grandchild nearby. Helen volunteers with the Salvation Army, is active in a local walking group (an extremely competitive one!) , helps care for her grandchild and, as she would say herself, “keeps an eye on” her older husband. Helen has volunteered with CAB for many years and is famous in our office for her firm tone and determination to get things done for clients.

Ika, originally from Indonesia, is an incredibly talented artist and mother to a 17-year-old daughter. She has lived in New Zealand for many years and is deeply involved in the local community through Scouts, the Arrowtown Autumn Festival and art programmes with Atamira. She is also active in emergency response work and is a strong and respected member of the Indonesian community network. She will often joke and say “I speak no English.” but this is generally when she's trying to get out of being the secretary for our board!

David, originally from the UK and previously working in Portugal, has a background in management training. Since joining CAB, he has become an absolute cornerstone of our team, particularly in employment and immigration matters. David has supported countless clients through workplace meetings, mediation and difficult conversations, always aiming for the best outcome for everyone involved. His ability to speak Portuguese has also been incredibly valuable in supporting members of the Portuguese-speaking community. Quite simply, he is a legend in our office.

Dom, our youngest volunteer at just 22, is from Scotland and of English and Nigerian heritage. He is currently taking a gap year from studying law in Edinburgh after originally coming to CAB himself for help with employment and visa issues. Instead of running away after seeing how busy we were, he volunteered. Alongside working full-time, Dom is also studying for snowboard instructor qualifications over the winter. He brings humour, fresh
ideas and enough youthful energy for all of us.

Jen is our token Aussie, although we try not to hold that against her! After selling a successful e-commerce mountain bike business, Jen and her family chose Queenstown as home. She homeschools her three children, chairs the Happiness House Board of Trustees, and also mentors businesses. Jen brings empathy and practical wisdom and that “busy person, get it done" attitude to our volunteer team.

I could honestly keep writing about every single one of our amazing volunteers (in fact I edited down my list!) because every person on our team brings something different. Every one of them has strengths, personalities, experiences and quirks that make them unique, but they all share a genuine desire to help this community.

And if you are reading this as one of our volunteers and thinking, “Hang on… where’s my paragraph?”, please know it is absolutely not because you are any less important, valued or unique. It is simply because if I wrote about everyone individually, this story would end up longer than a Queenstown winter, and nobody would ever finish reading it! The reality is that every volunteer contributes to making our service work.

Why is our volunteer team unique? The incredible diversity among the team that supports our services truly reflects our community. Between us, we cover 11 different languages and have volunteers from Taiwan, Peru, the Philippines, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Indonesia, Brazil, Spain and India (I don’t think I have forgotten anyone!). Some of our volunteers have only been part of the Queenstown community for a few months, while others have called this place home for more than 30 years.

What makes our volunteer team so special is not just what they individually bring, it is how they come together. Not just ages and cultures, but life experiences and personalities all combine around one simple goal: helping people. Our clients are welcomed into a service that genuinely reflects the community around us.

Our team support members of the community, yes, but they also educate each other.
They are not just volunteers.
They are the reason our service works.

Story written by CAB Queenstown for our Volunteer Celebration Stories campaign to celebrate National Volunteer Week 2026.