Gisborne’s Norma Hooks retires from Plunket after 32 years of service

Norma Hooks (centre) retires from Plunket today after 32 years of service. She is pictured with the Gisborne Plunket team of (from left) Lyn Johnston, Lisa Smith, Mona Bradley, Anya Goodall, Lilian Jackson and Jelaire Poi. Photo / Kim Parkinson

It was an emotional day for Gisborne Plunket’s Norma Hooks as she farewelled her colleagues at a special lunch after 32 years of working for the organisation.

Hooks became tearful when asked on Wednesday what she would miss the most about her job.

“I’m going to miss my colleagues. It’s been a fantastic workplace. Plunket is just an awesome organisation to work for.”

The decision to retire did not come easy. Hooks recalled weeping while drafting her letter of resignation.

Whānau Āwhina Plunket is a charity and New Zealand’s largest support service for the health and wellbeing of tamariki under 5 and their whānau. It offers free health and development checks, a 24/7 parenting helpline and a range of services.

In 1982, Hooks and her husband Victor immigrated to Gisborne from Northern Ireland.

It soon became their community and adopted home with the arrival of twin boys.

It wasn’t long before Hooks became a Plunket volunteer, supporting her playgroup. In June 1992, she joined the Plunket Car Seat Services Team and later the Injury Prevention Team of which she has been an integral member.

“Norma has seen lots of change, but has always supported her community and has been an amazing part of Injury Prevention,” community services manager Annalee Hayward said.

“We will miss her smiling face and slightly Irish sense of humour, but wish her a very happy retirement.”

Hooks was a key member of the safety team, who used to work with ACC and the police to do free roadside car seat checks.

During her time at Plunket, she assisted people with the installation of car seats and did checks to make sure seats were correctly installed.

Plunket was restructured in 2018, resulting in 33 management and administration roles in its Central Region team being disestablished. Hooks’ hours were reduced at the time as Plunket came under one team based in Wellington and Hamilton.

The Gisborne team is made up of four Plunket nurses and two kaiāwhina health workers. They will soon advertise for a new injury prevention staff member and part-time community services administrator.

Hooks said she would continue to be a volunteer for Plunket and was happy to help with fundraising.