Hero

“I was born and raised in war. To be honest, those are not good memories. I really like Iran, and I really miss it, but I couldn’t be myself there. Even though my family didn’t like my decision, I left Iran. I promised myself that I would do whatever I can for all communities, especially […]

Saskia

“Meals for Mum is a charity that was started quite a few years ago – not by me, by somebody else. Hilary Barry. along with Seven Sharp, introduced it to the world and it kind of burst onto the scene nationwide. To be honest, with COVID, it became very difficult to maintain due to health […]

Sue

“A big part of my life is the market. It’s coming up to 14 years (as Manager). We have our own community out here with everyone that comes in. It’s changed a lot. We’ve been through two earthquakes; the shootings; all sorts of things. COVID. Everything that can be thrown at us really. A lot […]

Chantelle (Tui)

“I te taha o tōku koroua; Ko Hikurangi te maunga Ko Waiapu te awa Ko Horouta te waka Ko Ōhako te marae Ko Ngāti Ruapani te hapu Ko Ngāti Porou te iwi I te taha o tōku kuia; Ko Makeo te maunga Ko Waiaua te awa Ko Mataatua te waka Ko Waiaua te marae Ko […]

Stephen

“I’ve been here for 75 years, 14 February.  My family’s from Normandy, France. They came in a ship – Comte de Paris. And Captain Stanley was there to meet them with a bottle of champagne, probably. Well, that’s my job.  And I’ve done every job in the books.  When we were young, we had to […]

Melanie

“I didn’t get taken to funerals as a child, I got left behind. As a result I had no healthy death experiences to draw from. I became a funeral-avoidant death-phobic scaredy-cat. I was so bad at dealing with loss, terrible at supporting friends. I didn’t know what to say and often for fear of saying […]

A.K. part two

“She just started at school last week, you know? It’s a really big change and challenge for us as parents because she never been to school.  For almost four years they were stuck in Sri Lanka. It was a bit tough for them. They were in a restricted area, they were really stuck at the […]

A.K. part one

I have reached so many stages in my life. I work full time in a retail store and I got couple of days off duty, So during that time, I spend my valuable time with community and volunteering work. Funny thing is, Some people see me at my workplace. Then suddenly they see me in […]

Knit & yarn group – Leslie, Marjorie, Judith and Jillian

“Well, I never thought about joining a group, I saw Marjorie at the wool shop, and she was wearing something that she had knitted and I said ‘hey, I like your bolero’. And she said ‘I’m starting a knitting group’, and so that’s when I started going because I live in the country, out towards […]

Nicky

“It started with alcohol when I was 14. I guess I had a lot of 14-year-old issues and I was so shy. I was just lost. I met some older guys in town and one day they took me to the pub and I just thought, ‘oh, my God, I’ve come home’, something in me […]