Last weekend I was back at Mairangi Bay Playcentre for the second time in about a year. The first time I was there was to see the damage done by the storms that ripped through Tamaki Makaurau and across the top of the North Island and then were followed up by Cyclone Gabrielle. This time it was to celebrate the opening of the Centre and all the work that the Centre whānau have done. It was a great event with engagement with the local community and every part of the Centre was in use. They were already working on a new playground area when the flood came through and that has now been completed. Mairangi Bay have a wonderful bush walk and that has now all been restored with the walkways reinstated. The flood damage in the lower part of the building has been  repaired and other parts of the grounds impacted by flood water have all been restored. The difference was marvellous to see and talking with numbers of people from the local community, it was obvious they could see it too.

I had an opportunity to acknowledge and thank the Centre whānau for all they have done with the support of our Regional and Property teams. It just goes to show what we can achieve when we follow our values of Cooperation, Endeavour and Manaakitanga. I was moved by the indomitable spirit at the Centre when I visited the first time and was so uplifted to see the Centre really buzzing at the opening. It was a privilege to be invited by the Centre whānau to attend and I thank them for the opportunity to be there for such a great event.

As we move forward as an organisation, I am looking forward to attending more openings and celebrations in the future. Our plans to establish a sustainable future for our organisations in the form of our 6 Big Rock Strategy are also designed to create a platform for future growth and we are progressing them positively:

  • Big Rock #1 – New Trust Deed
    • Big tick in the box as this is now done and we have a new governing document that is fit for purpose and meets all legislative requirements
  • Big Rock #2 – Co-design of new funding model
    • A huge amount of work has been done on this and we are now in that news black-out period of the budget. We hope we may get some news when the budget is announced on 30th May and at that point we can keep progressing towards an outcome that works for us
  • Big Rock #3 – New operating model
    • Again substantial work has been done on the framework we need to put around each Centre to relieve whānau of the unfair burden of administration and compliance so that they can focus on our core belief of parents as first and best educators of their tamariki. We will shortly be announcing the first phase of the pilot programme which will be an exciting step forward
  • Big Rock #4 – Completing the amalgamation of 2019
    • We have also been doing substantial work to formally become one national organisation of which each Centre is the local expression and developing information packs for Centres on how we can achieve this
  • Big Rock #5 – New revenue streams
    • We have been identifying and exploring a number of potential new revenue streams and how we can resource them
  • Big Rock #6 – Business as usual
    • Whilst we do all the other Big Rocks, we need to keep meeting our legislative and compliance requirements and ensuring that we deliver what our whānau and tamariki need to grow together. I am so aware of the work being done all across the motu by all our volunteers and staff to achieve this. My thanks to everyone for all their amazing efforts

When I see the resilience and determination of the whānau at Mairangi Bay, how they looked adversity in the eye and then worked hard to have such a great opening celebration, I am certain that Playcentre as a whole has the same character and values that will see us through our current adversity. We will achieve our financial sustainability and we will be having new openings and celebrations as we head to our centenary and beyond. We can achieve this by working together because as we know, Playcentre is all about “whānau tupu ngātahi” – families growing together.

Ngā mihi nui me ngā mihi aroha,