Family Gathering for Hoa Pumau and Awhi Whānau

This will be held on Wednesday the 28^th of February at 2.30pm.

We warmly welcome all family and friends of these homes to join us for this special time.

Welcome to our latest newsletter! As the last rays of summer sun warm Christchurch, we bring you news and cheer from Avonlea.

Thinking back to 2023, we have fond memories of our Christmas Family Gatherings, which we held in December. Thank you so much to those of you who joined us for afternoon tea and helped make the gatherings so special. They were wonderful occasions where we shared laughter, stories, and cherished moments together.

We were unlucky to experience a COVID-19 outbreak in the Hoa Pumau and Awhi Whānau homes shortly before Christmas. This meant that the Family Gathering for these homes had to be postponed. We are pleased to announce that this has been rescheduled to Wednesday the 28^th of February at 2.30pm. We warmly welcome all family and friends of Hoa Pumau and Awhi Whānau to join us for this special time.

Over summer we have been making the most of the warm weather that we are experiencing. We have been opening the windows to let the breeze in and residents have been spending time walking outdoors. Our residents enjoy relaxing in the shade of the gazebo to catch the cool breeze there, whilst enjoying a nice cold refreshment. We have been noticing just how much our residents notice and appreciate the flowers which are in bloom around our home at the moment.

Recently we welcomed entertainer, Chris Williams, to Avonlea. Chris sang songs in te reo and played the guitar for our residents. This was enjoyed by many. Our residents have been involved in van outings and enjoyed Avonlea’s very own ice cream booth which was set up for a fun afternoon. Residents picked ice creams and relaxed in the shade to enjoy them. 

We have been fortunate to recently be joined by some new staff members. Joana joins us as a cook. Joana has many years’ experience working as a chef in hotel restaurants in Qatar. Saleha has also joined us in the kitchen part-time. We also welcome new home assistants, Cecilia, Violeta and Yolanda who all have previous housekeeping experience in the Philippines. It is wonderful to have these new team members on board.

We understand how important it is for families to stay connected with their loved ones. We welcome and encourage regular visits from those who are able.  We also host monthly family support meetings to provide information and answer questions.

We wish you a year filled with love, laughter, and meaningful connections!

I hope you’ve all enjoyed the summer as we have at our homes. It is a lovely time to get out and about and enjoy the garden.

We have changed the format of our newsletters for this year. We know that most people receiving emails do so on their phones, this new format will cater to phone users better. It will also mean that we can send newsletters more regularly.

If you prefer to read a printed copy we will still have these available at each of our homes.

As with any new service we will look to improve as we go, so we will be asking for your feedback during the year.

I’m really looking forward to seeing the development in our homes over the course of the year. We will have a strong focus on staff training this year, we are further upgrading our IT systems and continuing to focus on our cultural care. Lots to look forward to.

We are also preparing for our Clinical Managers day in April. These have happened online for the past few years so it is wonderful to be able to plan an in-person session. These days are so important for sharing ideas and experiences from around our homes and improving the care we provide to each of our residents.

I enjoy meeting families as I travel around our homes so please do say hello if you see me when you are visiting.

I wish you and your whānau all the best for the year ahead.

Andrew Sheard, Managing Director

Magic Moment from Avonlea

On Christmas Day I was washing the dishes and a resident called to me, “Sweetheart can I talk to you?”

I replied, “Yes you can talk to me while I’m doing the dishes.”

She insisted, “but I want you to sit beside me.” So I sat beside her.