Experts say Whanganui social services must collaborate to survive

Collaboration "can only be a good thing" for the people using Whanganui social services. Photo / 123rf

Whanganui social services are grappling with funding cuts and experts say working together is the way to survive and best serve those in need.

Shelley Loader, manager of community support and cohesion service Whanganui Community House, said most people working in the sector as part of a non-profit did so “because they genuinely care”.

“Real change happens when people work together and support each other.

“Every individual and organisation has their own perspective and goals, which creates barriers to working collaboratively — despite sharing an overall goal.

“Throw in a lack of funding like we are seeing now and there is also competition for resources.”

That was particularly prevalent between organisations working in the same areas who were competing for government contracts, Loader said.

Staff were already dealing with below-average pay rates, resources and acknowledgement, and the work took “a large emotional toll”.

Community House manager Shelley Loader says staff are already dealing with below-average pay rates and resources. Photo / NZME

Whanganui Community Foundation manager Din Bandara said his organisation provided $300,000 a year in grants but work was under way to increase that.

There had been a rise in applications and a 35% increase in the amount of funding requested from May to November this year compared to the same period in 2023 — from $1.1 million to $1.9m.

“As brutal as it sounds, there might be a period where some organisations do have to fold, particularly those that don’t collaborate.”

He said a successful example was the Whanganui Food Security Co-operative, which brought together organisations such as City Mission, Unity Food, Kai Hub and Stone Soup.

Loader said collaboration needed to happen between organisations that had Government or council contracts and those that did not.

“The tide can change easily. You might not get that contract again and, suddenly, you’re on the other side of the fence.

“We need to have hard conversations with ourselves and others, where we challenge whether we are genuinely supporting each other or whether we are just ticking the collaboration box to appear like we are.”

Rana Aston says senior leaders of mental health services meet once a month. Photo / NZME

General manager of mental health and addiction service Balance Whanganui, Rana Aston, said it had lost a Health NZ Te Whatu Ora contract worth 100 staff hours a week.

The organisation recently opened Aunty’s cafe to fundraise for its operations.

“We have to think outside the box and be creative about what we’re doing, try to get the community involved to help look after each other, and be more resourceful.”

Senior leaders of mental health services met once a month.

“That helps us with resourcing but also, if we are all on the same team, that can only be a good thing for the people who use our services,” Aston said.

“If we are spending our time fighting amongst each other about who has what, we are not spending our time and energy looking after people.”

Birthright Whanganui manager Joleen Sharrock said the organisation lost its Government contract earlier this year and had already “cut as much as we can” in terms of cost savings.

Her organisation supports single parents with children under 18.

“We just got an email saying our contract would not be continued. That email came three days before the contract was supposed to renew,” she said.

“It felt like ‘No, we are not dealing with you any more, end of story’.”

Sharrock said writing funding applications had turned into a stressful and time-consuming part of her job, with little success so far.

Birthright worked alongside other services and amalgamation had been considered, she said.

“It’s about trying to find the right place — that wouldn’t then shut down what we do.”

Birthright Whanganui manager Joleen Sharrock says the organisation lost its government funding earlier this year.

Whanganui MP Carl Bates (National) did not want to comment on Birthright’s and Balance’s funding streams without knowing the specifics but was happy to engage with the organisations.

“There was significant funding — rightly or wrongly — around Covid-19 that was time-limited,” he said.

“That journey, in terms of where New Zealand has put money, has come to an end.”

He said organisations offering a similar service to the community should look at collaborating and possibly amalgamating.

“You’ve seen the two athletics clubs in Whanganui merge for practical reasons around administration.

“One of the key drivers for that was so their members didn’t have to join and change membership mid-season to be able to participate in competitions across the country.

“I get that athletics clubs are not a social service but it’s a good example of a specific reason why one organisation is more appropriate.”

Loader said everyone was “just one adverse event away from a downward spiral”, whether it be a relationship break-up, the loss of a job or an illness.

“Some people are lucky enough to get adequate support through that and can avoid that downward spiral, and others are not.

“It’s the same thing with organisations and competing for funding.

“There are enough resources in this world for everyone. Understanding, kindness and community cohesion are the keys to social change.”

Mike Tweed is a multimedia journalist at the Whanganui Chronicle. Since starting in March 2020, he has dabbled in everything from sport to music. At present his focus is local government, primarily the Whanganui District Council.