Pahīatua Help-n-Hand looking for input from the community

Nicola Brown and Denise Brown are looking to make a few changes at Help-n-Hand in Pahiatua, with input from the community.

By Leanne Warr

Pahiatua’s Help-n-Hand are looking to make some changes.

And the group needs the community’s help to do it.

Nicola Brown, one of the new co-ordinators, says they’re trying to bring the service more into line with what the community needs.

“We’re wanting to know what the community wants and if anybody has any ideas, come in and talk to us because we’re open to change.”

Help-n-Hand started in Pahiatua some years ago and at first, was helping staff impacted by layoffs but became a registered charity and not-for-profit.

Nicola who started in September, has worked in various areas within health and joined Help-n-Hand as a volunteer three years ago.

She decided to apply because she wanted to be involved, with the idea of building up the organisation and making it what the community needed.

She says everything that comes into the Main Street premises is donated by the local community and is available for the local community. So the reused items and pre-loved clothing is prevented from going into landfill sites

“The philosophy of Help-n-Hand is more a “help up when you need it”.

The volunteers help where they can, rather than “just give out things for free”.

There have been some changes recently, such as the budgeting service.

The community garden is also no longer under the purview of Help-n-Hand but they work closely together and have a monthly Harvest Exchange

While people who need advice on such things as budgeting can still come in, Nicola and Super Grans co-ordinator Denise Brown can offer suggestions and point them to the right service.

Denise recently took on the role of co-ordinator for SuperGrans and is an area delegate for Creative Fibre.

SuperGrans is a service where people volunteer to provide mentoring within the community on such things as household management, cooking on a budget and basic maintenance or gardening, but Pahiatua’s group also goes one step further by providing opportunities for those who want to learn crafts, for example.

Many of the volunteers and those who come to Help-n-Hand create blankets, or matinee sets for wahakura (bassinets for babies made from harakeke), crafted items to be given to children in local schools, rest homes, and other agencies.

Manline, a men’s counselling and education service, is also run out of Help-n-Hand once a week.

It has a close relationship with other social and community services within the district, and Nicola and Denise are keen to build more links so each service can refer people on to the appropriate agency.

Nicola says they are also involved with a proposal to set up a kai initiative, or a food hub for the district. Help-n-Hand runs the local foodbank and encourages food security.

The group relies on grants and donations from the community as it receives no government funding.

Nicola and Denise are looking forward to 2025 and what their evolving service will bring into the community’s future.