With the expansion of the Bayfair Shopping Centre, the shopping mall's Police Information Centre are needing to find more volunteers to help cover the shifts and ensure they can patrol the shopping complex each day.

'We need heaps more volunteers,” says Bayfair Police Information Centre coordinator Kerry Clare. 'We have 33 at the moment. We really need more, especially with the mall opening up. We only have two on each shift at the moment and we'd like to have three.”

The morning shift runs from 10am to 1pm, and the afternoon from 1pm to 4pm, Monday to Friday. On the weekends, there is one shift running from 11am to 3pm.

'We need more people on all the shifts and especially weekends,” says Kerry.

'Their role is to assist people with general enquiries and direct them to police, or alert Bayfair security to any issues,” says Mount Maunganui Community Constable Kurt Waugh. 'We're not putting them in any risk situation. Nothing confrontational.”

Stan and Dawn Lilley are members of the patrol.

'We walk around wearing hi-viz jackets,” says Stan. 'We give directions. People come to us to find out where certain shops are. We help with lost property, general knowledge, missing children, and medical events.”

Stan and Dawn Lilley on patrol at Bayfair.

The Bayfair Shopping Centre's $115 million redevelopment boasts a new-look retail offer with an additional 50 specialty stores, including an expanded premium fashion mix, an alfresco dining precinct, a new concept Countdown supermarket, and the Bay of Plenty's largest cinema complex, United Cinemas, with seven screens and more than 1300 seats. Most of the new stores opened in 2018, with the final stage planned to open in 2019.

The centre's overall footprint has expanded by 9,000 square metres to a total of 42,000 square metres.

'The Police Information Centre provides a really good service,” says Kurt. 'Definitely a voluntary role and they do a wonderful job. We also provide training days for the volunteers; the next one has a special guest speaker, and we are following it with a lunch.”

'We're looking for people of all ages,” says Kerry. 'Of course they have to go through the normal police check. We have some retired, and some working part time in their 50s. People need to be over 18 to be a volunteer. They can do as little or as many shifts as they want, even if it's just one a month.

'It helps if you're an older person with meeting people. Or it may be for someone who wants to give back to their community and help out. And anyone interested in joining the police force, it certainly helps on the CV if you've done voluntary work.

'We also get to have social get-togethers,” says Kerry.

'I put on a massive Christmas party,” says Kurt, agreeing.

Anyone wanting to join the Bayfair Police Information Centre can contact Kerry Clare on 027 247 7403 or Constable Kurt Waugh at the Mount Maunganui Police Station.

Bayfair Police Information Centre Coordinator Kerry Clare, Dawn and Stan Lilley, and Mount Maunganui Community Constable Kurt Waugh at the Bayfair Police Information Centre.

Bayfair Police Information Centre Coordinator Kerry Clare and Mount Maunganui Community Constable Kurt Waugh.