Recently Transform held a celebration for their 10th Birthday and book launch. There were almost ninety people in attendance. The celebration was an emotional one, but the staff felt like they were able to make Transform shine.
Guest speakers who honoured Transform included Stuart Bay (Founder), Jenni Davies (1st CEO), Craig Johnson (Funder), Brett Fleming (Board Chair), Howard Goold (currant CEO), and staff and clients’ testimonies.
Kim Jepsen the Manager launched her book Journey: How a charitable trust is transforming a small town in New Zealand . . . one life at a time. It shares the heart-warming stories of life change at Transform from 2019 and 2020. Also included is the history, the programmes, and the significance of the logo. It was designed as a fundraising venture to help cover programme costs, and was never intended to be a literary best seller but it does show the big heart of our charitable trust working in the community. Journey is available from the Transform Office at 32 Tirau Street. They are asking for donations over $15 per book. This covers all book production costs and any donations over this go back into the delivery of programmes. No royalties are taken.
The Transform cake was cut by the wives of the founders who also played an important role in the conception of Transform all those years ago. The light refreshments at the conclusion of the formalities were exceptional. The two large grazing tables were beautifully presented and laden with delicacies fit for royalty.
Over the ten years Transform has reached 3289 people. This is a conservative number as it does not include two years of driving lesson stats that are lost in the computer somewhere and it does not include the SWIFT driving programme Transform runs in the South Waikato high schools. This may not sound like a great number for an organisation however, if you consider the 2023 census it shows that the population of Putaruru was 6400 people. Transform has therefore impacted over half of the community in that time which is outstanding. This does not include the friends and family of those who attended that would have benefited as well.
The team at Transform are passionate about what they do and for them it is a pleasure to get out bed every day to serve this rural community in the heart of the South Waikato.
