News and Some Blogs
The latest news and information from the social sector.
Collaboration in action – the importance of community
By Charlotte Van Doorn (Collaborative Practice Coordinator, SociaLink) As we all know, the last two and a half years of living and working with a pandemic in our midst has been challenging in many ways.Change is never easy and when change is ongoing it takes its toll....
Volunteer Bay of Plenty to close its doors
After 17 years of dedicated service to the volunteering sector and local communities, Volunteering Bay of Plenty will be closing as a registered non-profit charity, acting Chair Berenice Langson said. “Unfortunately, Covid has made its impact in various ways, and it...
Democracy and co-governance are not mutually exclusive – Liz Davies
One of the main concerns people seem to have about Three Waters and health system reforms is a perception that democracy is denied in co-governance with Māori. Concerns seem to be driven by what some of us think we might lose, rather than what we might gain. It seems...
TECT funding boost for Community Insights
TECT funding will allow SociaLink’s Community Insights to support Western Bay of Plenty community organisations with useful data for another two years. The website, www.communityinsights.org.nz, provides Western Bay of Plenty community organisations with up-to-date...
What is fuelling the racist backlash?
The introduction of co-governance as part of the Three Waters reform and the establishment of a new national Māori Health Authority seems to have created a noticeable racial backlash, whether it’s due to opposition to co-governance or, at its worst, expressed as...
SociaLink meets with Minister
SociaLink Western Bay of Plenty met with the Minister of the Community and Voluntary Sector Priyancha Radhakrishnan, who was promoted to Cabinet this week.They also met with Minister of Women and Internal Affairs Jan Tinetti who is also Associate Minister of Education...
Matariki
Are you, like us, looking forward to Aotearoa’s new Matariki holiday (on Friday 24 June)? The stars of Matariki will reappear in the morning skies of Tauranga Moana at the end of this week, signalling the start of an important time in the traditional Māori calendar....
SociaLink launches website to share social agencies’ data
Liz Flaherty and SociaLink Policy Advisor Liz Stewart check out the dashboard SociaLink has launched a new website this week which makes evidence-based information available for community groups about the communities they serve and the social issues they are facing. ...
Budget not enough to fix child poverty
While the Government made some good changes in last week’s Budget, it’s just not enough to make a real difference to child poverty in New Zealand, Tauranga social agencies heard this week. The Western Bay of Plenty branch of the Child Poverty Action Group, supported...
Social agencies discuss effect of Budget on child poverty
What does the Budget mean for the local social sector, and children living in poverty in New Zealand? The Western Bay of Plenty branch of the Child Poverty Action Group supported by SociaLink are hosting a discussion on May 24 for social agencies to hear the national...
New Organisational Advisor for SociaLink
Christa George is the new Organisational Advisor for SociaLink. SociaLink is the umbrella organisation for social agencies and charities in the Bay of Plenty. Christa has more than 25 years’ experience working in executive management teams across the education and...
Media Releases – how to…
How do I write a media release so the media will actually use it? Is there a structure? Yes there's a structure - include who, what, when, where, why. Start with the most important thing, which is what the release is about. You may be running an event so start with...