This week Port Nicholson Rotary welcomed two speakers working at different ends of the community-support spectrum: one connecting volunteers to causes, the other connecting funders to unglamorous need. We heard from Geoff Hayward (Volunteer Wellington) and Rochelle Stewart-Allan (The Boring Fund).
This week Port Nicholson Rotary welcomed two speakers working at different ends of the community-support spectrum: one connecting volunteers to causes, the other connecting funders to unglamorous need.
Geoff Hayward – Volunteer Wellington
Geoff Hayward is Wellington Relationships Lead (Kaihautū Piringa) for Volunteer Wellington, an organisation that has been connecting Wellingtonians to volunteering opportunities since 1992 — and helping the not-for-profits and community groups on the receiving end run stronger, more effective volunteer programmes.
Speaking on "The Noble Pursuit of a Stronger Wellington," Geoff drew on both this role and his position as a Porirua City Councillor, noting his council website’s ethos of "let’s get shit done." In both capacities, he said, he tries to promote "a mutual spirit of generosity and shared values."
An interesting fact for the year ahead: the UN General Assembly has proclaimed 2026 the International Year of Volunteers for Sustainable Development — timely context for Geoff's work. He left members with a simple, memorable call to action:
"If you know someone, tell someone."
More information: volunteerwellington.nz
Rochelle Stewart-Allan – The Boring Fund
Rochelle Stewart-Allan is co-founder of The Boring Fund, a newly launched, community-funded grant scheme providing $500 grants to small non-profits — but only for the "boring" stuff.
Rochelle spoke about her first career leading NGOs and non-profits, which she credited as good training for establishing and growing the Fund. She described the kind of costs the Fund exists to support as "essential, unglamorous, and the hardest things to fund" — the invoices and admin that rarely attract donor enthusiasm but keep small organisations running.
More information: boringfund.nz