Arthritis New Zealand Services in Northland

Published 05 May 2011, Posted in National

2011 was always going to be significant for Arthritis New Zealand.  Changes in our health system combined with challenges in the New Zealand fundraising sector, resulted in our decision to review services and the where and how services are provided. This is never an easy task and changing services is difficult and often controversial. 

At the Governing Body meeting at the end of March the difficult but necessary decision to radically change the way we deliver services around the country was made. From the end of May 2011, Arthritis New Zealand will operate predominantly from three main centres: Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch. This decision provides the best financial savings for the organisation and meets the information, advice and support needs of people with arthritis.

This means that in Northland we will have an Auckland based Arthritis Educator visit on a regular basis and we will be providing telephone advice and assistance on our phone line 0800663463. 

‘To improve the quality of life for people with arthritis’ remains our mission – it’s how we do this that will be different.  The review process saw a strong call for a public awareness programme – and we are developing a campaign to launch this year.

The revised structure is based on a revised set of organisational priorities for services being:

• A need to decrease our cost structures
• An increase in public awareness of arthritis
• An increase in advocacy for people with arthritis
• Continuing to support and disseminate research on arthritis
• Providing support through information and advice through more phone-based and group events and less reliance on individual consultations.

Members and volunteers will play a pivotal role in the structure of the organisation in maintaining a local presence and how we work with people living with arthritis at all levels. We have been a volunteer-based organisation for more than 40 years and that commitment to volunteering remains.

We have created the new position of Regional Co-ordinator to focus on volunteer recruitment and support and I am delighted to let you know that Sue Baker has been appointed to this position in the Northern region. Sue has been our Northland Service Centre Co-ordinator for the past 5 years and will be based in Whangarei.- her contact phone no is 438 5037

Should you have any questions about us, how the new structure will work for you, or how we can work with you and your community please do contact me – ph 0274078493 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Francesca Holloway
Regional Manager Northern