CIH Manawatu Horowhenua: Te Aroha Noa deliver CIH through new adult learning centre

I met Bruce Madden (CEO) earlier this year and came away very inspired! Bruce has been working in Highbury to improve life and social outcomes for whanau for over 20 years, and his commitment and passion is unwavering.

Te Aroha Noa offer a wide range of services to their community, including an early childhood centre and social work services.

Bruce, his team and I met to discuss the most recent addition to Te Aroha Noa, an adult learning centre. One of the three learning streams proposed is ICT, which provided an opportunity to explore how we could bring CIH to their community.

It was decided we would approach parents connected to their early childhood centre, initially to gauge interest. Marion Hales who is Te Aroha Noa administrator extraordinaire, is also a CIH graduate. This was most fortunate as she could talk to staff and whanau interested in the participating about the programme.

Very quickly we had a list of more than 20 whanau wanting to participate, and with only 15 places. The list continued to grow and thankfully we were able to pick up an additional 10 places from the CIH national pool. The CIH team included the tutors Dan Chick and Dale Hunter, who contributed largely to the success of the programme.

A total of 23 whanau graduated on the 8th August, which was a very moving and motivating event. Local MP Iain Lees-Galloway and Palmerston North City Councillor Jan Barnett were there to present certificates to the graduates, who brought whanau along to celebrate their achievement. One of the graduates courageously shared her personal story and the difference participating in the programme had personally for her. With her permission I will publish that at a later stage.

We are in discussions with Bruce and the team about the possibility of Te Aroha Noa now becoming a Stepping UP centre and being able to offer graduates in the region additional digital steps. This is very exciting as it will be the first in the area, so watch this space!