From homicides to the theft of garden gnomes and "everything in between", Oamaru Victim Support volunteers Elaine and Lois [surnames withheld for privacy reasons] have been involved with a wide array of incidents during their years in the organisation.
Victim Support provides 24-hour emotional support, personal advocacy and information to people affected by crime and trauma throughout the country.
Elaine got involved with the organisation nine years ago, and was joined by her sister a year later.
Originally from Auckland, the sisters, both in their 60s, now play a key role.
It was a tragedy in her own life which eventually led to Elaine becoming involved with Victim Support.
She and her husband had been living in North Otago for six months, having moved south for lifestyle reasons, when they got the visit every parent dreads - from police to say their daughter had been killed in a car accident.
It was a "horrendous" time for the couple and she can still recall the lonely feeling after the police officers had left.
"I guess that stayed with me for a long while. That's why I now have got an empathy . . . of what the first steps to grieving are, that process," she said.
She was excited about training to become a Victim Support volunteer, of being able to help, to be there for people and to care.
A sometime misconception that volunteers were nosy and "do-gooders" could not be further from the truth, Lois said.
She joked there were much better ways to find out what people were up to than getting called out of bed at 3am on a cold winter's night.
When Elaine first joined Victim Support, there were about 12 volunteers in Oamaru and many were able to do day work.
However, the situation is now getting desperate with only four volunteers in Oamaru, including her and Lois, one in Palmerston and three in the Waitaki Valley.
Of the four in Oamaru, the two others are in employment and are only available in the evenings or at weekends.
Lois and Elaine are worried about burn-out.
While it was not that they were extremely busy, they were constantly on call, even leaving the phone outside the shower door. They joked that it always rang just when they were lathering the shampoo.
Oamaru Victim Support manager Vicki Hooper said she could easily use at least another five volunteers in Oamaru.
The recruiting process was quite intensive as it was critical to get the right people.
The trio agreed prospective volunteers needed to be committed, dedicated and reliable. Life skills were important, confidentiality was "absolutely huge" and they needed to be non-judgemental.
"We do absorb a lot of misery. We don't want crybabies," Elaine said.
Volunteers had to be comfortable turning up to a situation that might be emotionally charged and stressful and put everything else out of their mind so they focused on a person's needs, Mrs Hooper said.
They also needed a desire to be a volunteer - not a want or a need, Elaine said.
"What's lovely in a community like this is you can make a difference to people," Mrs Hooper said.
"We've had some wonderful results and we've also met some wonderful people" Lois said.
Elaine was lucky to have the support of her husband, and says she could not do it without him.
There have been times when she has been dishing up dinner and has had to leave - "my dinner is in the oven when I get home" - while sometimes he will wake in the morning and find her gone.
Lois' experience of working in the mental health field in Auckland for 20 years has helped her learn to "switch off" from particularly traumatic situations.
"You have to leave it behind when you get home," she said.
Both spoke enthusiastically about Mrs Hooper, a mother of six, who had always been there for them, providing support, since she took over the position in 2005.
Mrs Hooper, who is married to Oamaru police chief Kevin Hooper, said she was "a bit green" as to what Victim Support did when she applied for the job.
Now, she is full of admiration for those volunteers involved with the organisation.
In the present economic situation, with the increasing impact on families and communities - whether crime increased or issues surfaced in the community - she expected Victim Support would be required even more.
It often filled a gap, round the clock, that no-one else met.
People loved watching "cop shows" on the television, but those crimes were happening to real people in the community, she said.
Victim Support was unique in that it was the only volunteer organisation that worked so closely with the police, and the women were grateful for the support of police liaison officer Detective Sergeant Mike Ryder, the head of Oamaru CIU.
Training for volunteers will be held in March, covering everything from the criminal justice system to grief and loss.
Anyone wanting an application pack can phone Vicki Hooper on (03) 433-1427.
