Introducing the one and only Oakley Curley! Oakley loves swimming, messy play and most of all playing with his siblings. Oakly is just over a year old and lives with Mum Monique, Dad Paul, sisters Tiger Lily and Savanah and brothers Odin and Loki (pictured below). When Oakley was three weeks old, he was diagnosed with unicuspid aortic valve with critical stenosis and severe regurgitation which required open heart surgery. Following this, he was able to return home briefly for

At Manawanui, we always strive to improve our digital tools to make things easier for our customers.   Last year, we went through an accessibility audit, which recommended some improvements to make the Portal as user-friendly as possible.  We are implementing these changes tonight (Friday 1st March 2024). These changes will only impact the appearance of the portal. Nothing else will change, but we believe it will make it easier for customers to use.   Please see below some im

With financial support now available for NZQA training, there’s never been a better time for support workers to upskill and get qualifications that really count.   Getting a Certificate in Health and Wellbeing is a really useful qualification for support workers who are focused on self-directed support and is a great way to boost the confidence and skills of your staff while they support you. At Manawanui, we want to make things as easy for you and your support workers. We ha

We recently attended a show that was out of this world! Created by the incredibly talented crew at the Smoky Mirror Arts Company(SMAC), Galactic Grooves was a show filled with dance numbers and costumes that were simply stellar, Interstellar! The Rose Theatre on Auckland’s North Shore was the perfect intimate venue for the show, providing a safe environment for the performers that seemed to thrive off the interactive and enthusiastic crowd. Galactic Grooves tells a story abou

Introducing Jeanie, a musician and music teacher who, after losing her sight, has lost the ability to read print music. Jeanie, when she was partially sighted, studied and gained a Bachelor of Music majoring in theory and arranging and following this, completed a Diploma of Teaching. Since then, music arranging played a large part in Jeanie’s life, she arranged many popular tunes for groups of string students and also led a youth band and a junior music mentoring program at h

Introducing our Community Relations Advisor Patch Waters, who makes the transition to IF easy!  Every day Manawanui staff strive to live our values, “We deliver delight” “People are really important to us”, “We challenge ourselves to go beyond” and “We make it easy”.  The introduction of the new role of Community Relations Advisor further enhances those values for our newest customers.   Patcharee (Patch) Waters has been with Manawanui for just over 2 years, starting as a Cus

Kaupapa (Project Purpose): To strengthen Tainui Service Providers in the Māori Disability Sector through whanaungatanga, the sharing of information and working collaboratively together, to achieve the best outcome possible for whanau. In May, members of the Manawanui Relationships team were invited to present to the Waikato Māori Disability Network Hui. The network consists of representatives from the various health services that support the wider Waikato/Bay of Plenty area s

Introducing Noah Penny, the roller-skater and skier extraordinaire. Noah has severe autism, dyspraxia, epilepsy and is non-verbal – however he does not let this stop him!With amazing balance and a determined attitude, Noah has previously taken part in the Special Olympics. His passion is skiing, and he loves the sense of freedom it gives him. The season is very short, with only 6 Special Olympic training days at SnowPlanet each year as well as ‘Snow Camp’ - a preparation week

Rebecca McPhail on left, Sharla King Centre and Simon Anderson on right Introducing the Manawanui Projects Team I recently sat down with Simon Anderson who heads the Project Team at Manawanui – a team tasked with looking at ways Manawanui can improve their service offering to both current and new customers. Their mandate covers everything from products and services, through to Pilot projects with new customer bases who could benefit from Manawanui services. It also includes p

Manawanui is passionate about making a difference in the lives of disabled people, through providing the resources to control their own funding and hiring of who supports them. But what about older people – who also require home support and the ability to manage their funding? Manawanui has been running a long-term trial with The Bay of Plenty District Health Board and a Papamoa retirement village to assess how older people either living at home or in a retirement village set

As we eagerly await the announcement of the winners of Fund for Good, we are excited to share some of the inspirational milestones that Manawanui Fund for Good previous recipient Emma is achieving. Emma is an extremely hard worker who loves to be outdoors enjoying life with her sisters and was a Fund for Good winner back in 2021. Supported by parents Cindy and Nathan and sisters Lily-Anne and Chloe, Emma has been working tirelessly on her daily therapy programme to improve he

We are delighted to see one of our customers, Bradley, feature in the  New Zealand Herald in an article  about the upcoming Attitude Awards 2021.   Southland entrepreneur Bradley, who received a Manawanui Fund For Good 2020 award has now gone on to be recognised by The Attitude Trust and is a finalist for the Enterprise Award category.   Running his own business,  Bradley’s K9 Munchies , making dog treats, Bradley sells his products online and locally in Invercargill.  His si