More Than the Sum of Our Parts

We were delighted to see the We Are Books’ volunteer team recognised at this year’s Volunteering Canterbury Awards.

Our little second-hand bookshop, run by a team of around 30 volunteers, sold more than $33,000 worth of books in 2025 contributing vital funds to support CWEA’s work. The team gave more than 2,000 volunteer hours – sorting donations, creating beautiful displays, welcoming visitors, sharing recommendations and keeping the shelves stocked.

It’s incredible but numbers only tell part of the story.

What makes We Are Books special isn’t just the books that pass through the shop, or even the funds raised. It’s the people. The conversations that happen between shelves. The regulars who pop in for a browse and leave having discovered a course, an event or a new connection. The volunteers who bring their own ideas, skills and personalities, making the shop something none of us could have created alone.

And in many ways, We Are Books is a reflection of CWEA itself.

For more than a century, volunteers have been at the heart of our organisation. They teach courses and lead conversations. They serve on committees and working groups. They tend the garden, help in the kitchen, support events, share specialist knowledge, welcome newcomers and quietly take care of the hundreds of small jobs that keep a community organisation like ours running.

Many of our bookshop volunteers also volunteer elsewhere at CWEA. Others first discovered CWEA through the bookshop and have become part of the wider community. The boundaries blur – and that’s exactly the point.

Community organisations are rarely built by individuals. They are built by networks of people who each contribute something different: time, energy, expertise, enthusiasm, curiosity and care.

Perhaps that’s why volunteer organisations so often feel greater than the sum of their parts. No single person creates the magic. It emerges from the countless interactions, acts of generosity and shared purpose that happen over time.

This award may have been presented to the We Are Books team, but it also celebrates something much larger – the spirit of reciprocity that has always been central to CWEA.

To everyone who gives their time, whether in the bookshop or elsewhere across our organisation: thank you.

You are not just helping us do what we do.

You are who we are.