Launching into 2026 with a bang…
We are only a month and a half into the new year and already we have done so much, it feels more like three months.
We had our Info Night for the 2026 MADE to Lead Intake on January 27 at our new venue - Elim Community Hub, 198 Mahia Road, Manurewa. 45 people joined us for a shared dinner to find out about our programmes.
We had our first Inspiring Leaders night two nights later at Len and Pris Moodley’s home - regathering our MADE to Lead whanau who will be moving into Phase Two of the programme this year, as well as graduates and community partners who were keen to join us. In all, 36 of us came together and “got our cups filled up” ready to start the new year with a full tank.
Registrations started flooding in for our Flourishing People emotional healing workshop and we realised we had underestimated how many people need this programme!
The aim of the 5-session workshop is to help people who have experienced trauma begin to heal and get unstuck so they can move forward and begin to flourish in every area of their lives. We had thought, since it was a new programme, we’d get maybe 25 people…
On February 3rd - our first night of Flourishing People - 66 people showed up! We had to order in pizzas for our volunteers to make sure all our whanau got a meal. Pris Moodley is teaching the programme and she did not hold back, keeping it real, sharing her story and going deep. We wondered who would be brave enough to show up for week two…
People came back and brought their friends and whanau… even with a few out sick or at school camp, we had 67 people at Flourishing People week two. We are mind-blown.
Our amazing MADE to Lead whanau have stepped up, serving our community, preparing the venue, the food, sharing their stories, sitting with people, offering support and rides. We are so thankful for our incredible volunteers and team who go above and beyond, serving with aroha and generosity.
We have three more sessions remaining of the Flourishing People workshop - Tuesday 17th 6-9pm, Tuesday 24th 6-9pm and Saturday 28th of February, 10am-2.30pm.
People who have completed the workshop then have the option to join us for MADE to Lead Phase One - a 6-month stand-alone module helping them continue their wellbeing journey with support and community connection. Meanwhile our Phase Two whanau will begin a series of practical topics to help them in their leadership journey. We anticipate that many of our graduates and Phase Two leaders will come alongside our new intake to offer support and encouragement for the journey, as peer mentors.
With all this going we have needed to expand our team - so we are delighted to introduce Lucy Nanai-Vatau as our new full time Admin/Events and Manaaki coordinator. (Thank you to our funders/donors who have helped make this possible)