NEWS HEADLINES

Official opening of new premises - Insight Learning, Hamilton

Parliament members, trustees and invited guests gathered for the official opening of the new premises for Insight Learning at 5 Princes Street in Hamilton.

Honourable David Bennett, MP for Hamilton East, officially opened the building by unveiling the brass plaque along with Wendy Becker, our CEO. One of Mr Bennett's main areas of focus is education and, in a short speech, he spoke of the importance of educators and congratulated all the Insight and Gracelands staff on the good work they are doing. Tim Mackindoe, MP for Hamilton West, also attended the opening as an invited guest.

The building in Princes Street was purchased by the Te Awamutu Gracelands Property Trust. The trust was created to separate and safeguard buildings as community assets for the future.

At the opening, Wendy thanked all the Property Trust members for their efforts during the project, especially Russell Vincent who suspended other work to focus on preparing the premises for occupation on 1 March. After weeks of remodeling by Ridgeline Homes, Russell's company, the building is now fit for purpose with five classrooms, six offices, a large student cafeteria and meeting area, as well as computer rooms for students to use. There is also a staff room located upstairs on a mezzanine floor, which provides a useful space for staff meetings.

Finding a suitable building was difficult, but Wendy commented that Chief Operations Officer, Martyn Parkes, did an excellent job at managing the project. The new location covers 599m2 and is a major improvement when compared to the team's previous premises. Its tidy with a very special 'new' feeling and is centrally located in the city centre.

Staff and students have enjoyed settling into the new building. Up to 60 students make use of the facility, attending four courses on offer at this location. The courses include Early Childhood Education, Literacy courses (which includes three classes namely Foundation Skills, Basic ESOL and Advanced Literacy), Community Support and Hospitality.

NZ Trustee of the Year

The New Zealand Trustees Association has named Gracelands Group of Services board member Suzanne Win as the 2010 New Zealand Trustee of the Year. Suzanne was presented with the award at an intimate gathering on Tuesday, 19 April, held at the Service Centre in Te Awamutu.

New Zealand Trustees Association Executive Trustee Errol Anderson says the award is recognition of Suzanne's outstanding ability as a trustee, significant appointments and personal achievements of the past year, and her contribution to trusteeship within New Zealand. At the event, Mr Anderson also commented on the importance of the Health and Disability Sector and the difference its workers make in people's lives. He was delighted that this year's award went to Suzanne Win, who has made many valuable contributions to the sector.

Trusteeship is a position often under-rated as most of the work is done in boardrooms, but for every hour spent in a meeting you can guarantee at least two hours in preparation and up to three hours in post meeting actions, explained Mr Anderson.

Suzanne has had a hugely successful career in the Health and Disability Sector. Originally trained as a nurse, Suzanne has worked in a variety of government and non-government roles. Suzanne has been on the Gracelands' Board of Trustees since April 2005. She is also a current board member of the Donald Beasley Institute; a past Chair of Nelson Marlborough District Health Board and Career Force; and served on the Health Workforce Advisory Committee of the Ministry of Health.

Gracelands' Chairman of the Board, Tom Barratt has worked with Suzanne for almost six years and at the event commented that Suzanne always keeps the people who use Gracelands' services in mind when dealing with matters of the board. Her sincerity, along with her strong advocacy and understanding of Maori and her many years experience in the sector makes her a valuable contributor in board meetings. Tom said, "On a personal level, I have learnt a lot from Suzanne and I value her support highly."

A sensible man called Henry Miller once said: "A real leader has no need to lead - he is content to point the way". Suzanne has certainly pointed the way for many organisations and long may she continue to do so.

Celebrating success

More than 70 students from the Insight Learning centres in Hamilton, Paeroa and New Plymouth celebrated success in Hamilton this week.

"At Insight we offer students the opportunity to gain qualifications which, for a number of reasons, they were unable to achieve at school. It's second chance learning so we find that our students are very motivated to succeed - the result is that many progress to tertiary education or employment," said Gracelands Insight Learning manager Chris Russell.

2010 was the first year we also offered an intensive literacy course. At this week's celebration 40 students received certificates for 100 hours plus of intensive training including 15 people with disabilities who are supported by Gracelands.

Gracelands Insight Learning is an NZQA Registered Private Training Establishment specialising in Disability and Aged Care, and Caring for Young Children courses along with entry level literacy and NCEA qualifications at its centres in Hamilton, Paeroa and New Plymouth. All courses are government funded.

Insight Learning is part of the Gracelands Groups of Services which offers rehabilitation, supported employment, and skill development support to people with disabilities, or who are disadvantaged by circumstance or injury.

Helping keep iconic roses cool

Steven Clarke doing his bit to keep the Te Awamutu roses beautiful. Photo Louise Botha.

Concern for Te Awamutu's famous rose gardens during the recent drought promoted Waipa District Council to call Gracelands' Green Team for help.

With a level two water restriction in place only hand-held water hoses were permitted, no sprinkler systems allowed. So the Green Team was quickly to the rescue hand watering until the rainfall in mid January. The team will remain on-call for the rest of the summer.

The rose gardens are a major draw card for Te Awamutu, attracting thousands of visitors to the town each year, so it is crucial that the plants are looking their best and, thanks to the Green Team, they will be.