Over the past couple of years Community Waikato has received an increasing number of requests from community organisations seeking support and assistance to address relationship issues that have become sources of significant conflict within the organisation.

All around me people are talking about preparing for climate adaptation as if they are undertaking a mission strategy.  Our ability to adapt is threatened by the anxiety of switching from heat to flooding in a flash, strained by systemic inaction and only incremental changes through policy and law. 

We live in uncertain times, but there’s a graph that leaves little room for doubt. The graph of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, and how it’s changed over the last million years, shows something dramatic has been going on since 1950.

Community organisations are never more crucial, or more appreciated than in a disaster. In recent months many Waikato communities have faced unprecedented challenges.

Community Waikato in collaboration with the Mentoring Foundation delivers a Mentoring Programme that been designed to help grow leadership in social and community sector leaders.

I think it is fair to say that 2023 did not start the way anyone anticipated.  We didn’t seem to have much of a summer, and coming back to work, our country experienced the torrential flooding in Northland/Auckland followed by the cyclone that hit much of Te-Ika-a-Maaui (the North Island).

Community Networks Aotearoa is a busy little office with multiple projects on the go. Everything we do is based on issues arising in the non-profit sector, that we as a national organisation can grapple with on behalf of The Sector.

The Charities amendment bill has been a long time coming. The bill amends the Charities Act 2005 – a key piece of legislation for the charitable sector that will impact over 28,000 registered charities across Aotearoa.

If our team is thriving, members are doing well and are successful, healthy, and strong. Thriving communities begin with thriving individuals. When we grow and nurture our people, we grow and nurture our organisation and its impact, and we are better able to deliver within and for our communities.

The world is still in a bit of a strange place, so I thought, rather than try to dissect that, I would be a little more positive. To wrap up the year, I would like to share with you 12 highlights for Community Waikato in 2022.

Participatory approaches are widely recognised as a highly successful way of getting the best out of people, gaining a greater understanding of a situation, and ensuring fair, equitable and sustainable outcomes.

Participatory approaches are widely recognised as a highly successful way of getting the best out of people, gaining a greater understanding of a situation, and ensuring fair, equitable and sustainable outcomes.

Zoom, Teams, and Skype are new technologies that allow us to have conversations with anyone in the world. We can see each other, hear each other, and ignore each other.

This year the Community Waikato team have recognised and made an effort to prioritise wellbeing.

Visuals are an important part of our everyday world. Research has shown that visuals increase engagement and can enhance understanding and recall of information.

Andrea Goble was the second CE of Community Waikato, and the woman who supported me into my role as the current CE. She was a remarkable woman who was passionate about the for purpose sector and for the people who dedicate their lives to making our world a more equitable space.

The ‘new normal’. We have heard this for the last two years now, but what does ‘new normal’ actually mean? For many of our community and social service organisations, it means more demand for services, increasing complexity of client and service user cases and continued underfunding of government contracted services.

The law setting up a Matariki public holiday has passed in Parliament, and we now have a new public holiday set for 24 June this year.

Co-governance is currently a topic of discussion, as policies such as Three Waters and the Maori Health Authority work their way through Parliament.

An exciting Te Tiriti o Waitangi project with ethnic communities is growing in the Waikato!