Services:

• Older People
• Youth, Children & Families
• Mental Health
• Elder Care Canterbury

NEW LINWOOD CENTRE FOR PRESBYTERIAN SUPPORT

A new centre providing services for older people, children and families in the Eastern suburbs of Christchurch is the result of a partnership between Presbyterian Support Upper South Island and St Georges-Iona parish in Linwood.

The facility – so new it is yet to be named – is at 601 Gloucester Street next to St Georges-Iona Church, on the site of the former manse. Due to open in September, it will house Harakeke Linwood, a day activity programme for people with memory loss, which is part of Presbyterian Support’s Enliven positive ageing services. Also on site will be Enliven counselling, social work and falls prevention staff, and Family Works staff working with children and families.

Presbyterian Support’s Chief Executive Vaughan Milner sees the building as an example of his organisation’s determination to become part of local communities and to work alongside others who share the same interests. “We think there is value in building relationships with parish partners as well as placing buildings in relationship to churches,” he says.

The Linwood facility is the third that Presbyterian Support has built next to a church in the Canterbury region: the Campbell Centre and corporate headquarters in Christchurch are built next to Knox Church in Bealey Avenue, and in Rangiora the Ngawi Thompson Centre has been built in partnership with the parish of Rangiora next to John Knox Church in King Street.

“The buildings anchor our sense of belonging and place. They signal our presence and commitment to an area,” Mr Milner says. “Buildings, though, are just a starting point in order to support what really matters, which is the work we do with clients. In the end it is relationships between people that build community and compassion – the place of belonging in the heart.”

As a social service agency, Presbyterian Support’s work is commonly seen as providing practical support, advice, guidance and counsel. “We certainly do all of those things. Underneath that, though, there is a deeper level of our work which is to do with helping people regain a sense of meaning and purpose in their situations, and looking for ways to ensure people are well connected with others as part of a community of belonging,” Mr Milner says.

The Enliven positive ageing services aim to provide older people with individually-tailored support to remain in their own homes for longer and to achieve other goals that are important to them. The Enliven philosophy focuses on the idea that “some things make for a healthier, happy life, no matter what your age”. This includes a sense of community; contact with friends, whanau and family; being able to give and to receive; having a home of your own choosing; being able to make good personal decisions; and access to practical support when needed.

Enliven positive ageing services vary throughout the region to suit the needs of the community. They include social work, counselling, home support services of various kinds and falls prevention, including specially modified Tai Chi classes and home-based exercise programmes for more frail older people. There are Totara clubs in Rangiora and Christchurch for older people who are socially isolated or in need of support, and a Harakeke club for people with memory loss in Riccarton as well as the new one in Linwood.

Family Works provides counselling and social work, school and community family work, mentoring, group learning and support, Grandparents as Parents support groups, and the Connections programme.