Back to Blog

Working From Home

Like many others doing business during this lockdown it has been a time to reflect, take stock and to consider how we can do things better or differently.  TA staff have managed to keep the wheels turning during the past months and the only real problem we have seen is the lack of face to face human contact.  Howard and Kim have kept a smooth running engine in the administration and management department.  Lamen and Belena have successfully maintained contact with all their client...

Covid-19 Lockdown

Transform Aotearoa like all the other businesses across the country are doing our best to comply with the nationwide covid-19 lockdown that happened three and a half weeks ago.  We chose to close down on the Monday before lockdown for the safety of three of our staff who fall into the high risk category.  Their health was more important than keeping the doors open an extra two days. Like many others we have done our best to operate remotely from the comfort of our homes.  The main...

Louise Upston MP

This week in The Prattler..."A highlight for me was joining the Transform Aotearoa 5th Year celebration wherepeople came together to talk about what Transform is doing in the community. AsI said at the time, I wish I could clone Transform and roll it out to the rest of thecountry as a perfect example of how our local people can go about helping wholecommunities transform and flourish."- Louise Upston Taupo MP...

Reders Digest!!!

Check it out! We are famous! Readers Digest is a National Magazine filled with inspiring stories and useful advice on health, weight loss, food, home, travel and more. What better to inspire someone than to read about our Women of Worth program giving back to our community of Putaruru. So proud of all that our ladies do and the bond they have formed while working and growing together....

Happy New Year - 2020

Happy New Year from the team at Transform Aotearoa. We were very glad for the break but have hit the ground running in the New Year. Opening our doors on the 6th January to help those needing licencing assistance.Our youth learners and HT class 2 programs were successful with 100% pass rate.We are excited for our class 2 students who now have a greater opportunity to gainemployment in the trucking industry and increase their earning potential. Many ofthem will begin driving class 2 trucks i...

Transform Aotearoa Celebrates 5 Years

Our 5th birthday celebration was ‘on point’ this year with 60+ people attending.  The formal end of the celebration saw the speakers stand up and talk about what Transform is doing in the community.  Louise Upston said she wishes she could clone Transform and deposit us all over the country.  Because we are helping our own community and Wellington is the last place to look if you want to see change on a community level.Matt Hamilton from Police spoke how Transform has made a h...

Love Bomb Putaruru

It was touch and go with the weather but we all had faith that we wouldn’t get rained out.  Instead we got a little sprinkle and the clouds parted enough to allow the sun to poke through while we Love Bombed the community.  Zigzagging up and down Princes Street the ladies were like angels flitting in and out of shops.   This year the reactions were fabulous as we presented the services of this town, the retailers and locals on the sidewalk with flowers, biscuits and chocola...

Coffee Essentials Barista Course

A Participants response… You are part of another person’s day and for some, their coffee would be the making or breaking of it. I was not entirely a part of the ritual between maker and customer - I didn’t know beyond what cups needed to be washed and which ones would I awkwardly have to hold, trying to stop the inevitable slosh of the liquid onto the saucer beneath before it reached the customer. I was sixteen when I held my first job at a bakery – it was an interesting experience ...

Tu Taua Seminar

The Tu Taua Stand Against P seminar run at Transform in June was a sobering snap shot and informative presentation of how this drug is destroying the communities in which we live.    A group of 35 people from a number of social agencies across the South Waikato district listened to how to recognise people who use.  Kevin Hollingsworth from Rotorua presented a board game that resembled a Monopoly board that showed the gateway into using this drug and the pitfalls and perceived bene...

Becoming Women of Worth

Our Fabulous Women of Worth have had a great write up in the Daily Encourager Make sure you check it out here....

Transforming provincial heartland - Daily Encourager

Check out the awesome write up in the Daily Encourager about how Transform Aotearoa is transforming lives in provincial New Zealand. ...

Graduation!

This event happened last week and sadly only 3 graduates made it to the graduation due to other commitments.  However those who did make the effort were spoilt with a night to remember.  A feast of pizza, egg salad and garlic bread followed by a carrot cake delighted the taste buds of the graduates and guests. The group’s participants come from all walks of life and all kinds of socio-economic levels but when they come to Transform Aotearoa to do a men’s course they are all equals...

Flying our Flag High!

Transform Aotearoa has introduced a flag on the footpath to help locals visualise where we are located in Putaruru.  We had a few comments from local and social agencies that Transform is not very visible from the road, so with the new 3 metre flag flutters in the breeze there will be no confusion where we are!!!  Transform Aotearoa has been a valuable part of the community for almost 5 years and people still tell us they don’t know who or where we are. Let’s hope with ou...

Te Moana Kura

On the 10th April 2019 Te Moana Kura had their graduation.  These ladies bonded from the first class, which was unusual as in the past it has taken until the 4th session before the ladies connect.  It was a beautiful program where they were all encouraged and challenged to the core to be a better version of themselves.  The guest speaker Linda Steel spoke of her challenges over her life and how she wouldn’t change any of them because they have made her who she is today, the good...

Collaborative Quilting

Our Friday WOW ladies group have not failed to impress this time.  A small group of them gathered together over the last few months to learn from our quilter friend Wendy Lawrie how to make a fabric art quilt.   They brainstormed together first and this quilt represents all the things that the ladies said made Putaruru an amazing place.  Each lady was allocated a job to do and sent to work before coming to piece the quilt together.   It was fascinating to watch a lo...

Barista Training

At the beginning of March Transform Aotearoa held their first Coffee Essentials Barista training course with the help of Industry Training Solutions.  On the first day the 14 ladies looked very nervous but that was short lived.  The first 40 minutes of class gave them enough information on the history and culture of coffee to blow their minds.  By the end of the course the confidence and self-esteem had lifted 100%.  Smiles laughter and a sense of accomplishment radiated from...

Transform Aotearoa has hit the ground running!

Transform Aotearoa wish the Putaruru community a happy and prosperous New Year.  We are very excited about what 2019 has to unfold.  Some of the courses we are running this Term are: HT Class 2 licence - this has been so popular it filled to capacity before Christmas.  This week long course is to help locals get a job or a better job in the trucking industry and begins in February. Likewise our Barista coffee training has been just as popular and is now full. This is also designe...

Graduation and Christmas

The celebrations never stop at Transform, we spent another awesome day celebrating several women graduating and we even got into the Christmas spirit with shared secret Santa gifts. We were encourage by one of TACT supporters to believe in ourselves and that when things are tough, look in the mirror and say “I can do this, I am great, and I can get through this”. We are reminded to be nice to ourselves, to speak positively about ourselves. Belena shared on the importance at Christmas time o...

Website Refresh

Time has flown by and it has actually been 4 years since our first website went live! So we have been in need of an update and a refresh, and last Friday this happened with our new website officially going live! Thanks to all those who helped make it happen! Our new website has been shaped around our core beliefs, essentially our love of people. It is all about people, every single person has helped make Transform Aotearoa what it is today. Check it out, it has a lot more information on it with...

Transform Aotearoa Refresh

The months of September and October have had us giving the place a real spring clean. The lovely ladies in our team oversaw the project and the rooms were refreshed and transformed ready for the new season! It is awesome to see the women take such pride and ownership of their spaces, and it is encouraging to see a sense of belonging and willingness to help out with such tasks. Another exciting thing is the interest in people wanting to learn to sew and do patch work. It is a great tool to be abl...

October

This month we had a visit from MP Louise Upston. We really appreciate the time she took to come out and visit us.  Louise shared her personal story with us, a journey which at times was rough, but she overcame those challenges with support of others. Louise’s story and openness really resonated with so many of our women. So it was so nice to be able to connect and share more over a lovely morning tea together. It was a real time of community and left us all feeling inspired and reminded t...

Gaining Confidence with technology

Navigating a computer can a daunting process for some, and one that can hinder access to social agencies and services, learning and employment opportunities, social media or information on the internet in general. In a new initiative, Transform Aotearoa and Literacy Aotearoa have partnered together to help locals of all ages to feel like they can make sense of this medium that has become a part of everyday life. In late July together they piloted a new 10 week, Level 1 Basic Computing Course in ...

Stepping up to the challenge

We're excited to share with you that in Term Two we launched our band new, stage 2 Men's program!   Following on from the success of our stage one program, Te Kaupapa Whakamana, this new stage 2: Te Ana Raiona (The Lion’s Den) has been created, to take men to the next level in their growth and development as healthy contributing members of society.  “The story about the Lion’s Den represents a test, a trial and challenge against all odds where men ar...

Shine!

Transform Aotearoa has had many successes over Term One, but top of our highlights has been the ShineGIRL programme that has run in Putaruru College for a group of year 9 and 10 students. Over nine weeks, our passionate facilitators Marilyn Baldwin and Amber Hohaia facilitated ShineGIRL to invest in the lives of a group of 10 young ladies selected from Putaruru College. The girls met together each week to learn and grow in the way that they think about themselves. The girls bonded and blossomed ...

Meri Kirihimete

We hope you have a great Christmas. Looking forward to all that 2018 has in store for us to do together. Me te aroha nui atu o mātou katoa....