Enliven centre opens in Bay

Enliven Community Services manager Rebekah Charlton and Kevin Snee, chief executive, Hawke's Bay District Health Board, cutting the cake at the official opening of Enliven Centre.

Presbyterian Support East Coast has opened permanent premises in Pakowhai for its Enliven programme which is aimed at catering for the social, physical and mental condition of elderly people in the Hawke's Bay community.

While Enliven's day programmes for older people have been running for nine years it had not had a centre to work from - until Friday.

Enliven is contracted by the Hawke's Bay District Health Board to deliver programmes for older people and recently the contract was amended to include people living with dementia who wished to access day respite.

Hawke's Bay District Health Board CEO Dr Kevin Snee was guest speaker at the opening and commended Presbyterian Support on the services they provided for the elderly, and acknowledged the long-standing working relationship which had been built up.

"The Hawke's Bay community is aging year on year and the DHB have to work smartly with our resources to ensure that our health dollar goes further," Dr Snee said.

The new centre has been set up at what was the Park Estate Winery off Pakowhai Rd and was ideal as it was accessible for the Napier, Hastings, Havelock North and Flaxmere communities.

"We feel very lucky to have such a lovely building and spacious grounds to offer our clients," Enliven Community Services manager Rebekah Charlton said.

"It feels good to be able to give back to those who have contributed so much to their communities."

Enliven provides programmes for more than 100 Hawke's Bay people every week, and among them have been focuses on nutritional needs and a "stand tall" balance improvement programme which has shown to significantly reduce a person's risk of falling.