Chairperson’s Report

Tēnā koutou,

In what has been another challenging year with Covid and various economic and
societal factors, I want to begin my report by saying, “Thank you.”

Firstly, thank you to all our supporters, donors, and funders who have given
towards the work of Visionwest Waka Whakakitenga. I know it’s a bit of a cliché
to say, “We couldn’t have done it without you,” but that is a reality – without your
support, the work would not get done.

Thank you also to the awesome Visionwest team throughout Aotearoa New
Zealand – our management, staff, and volunteers – who work so hard to ensure
those who need support receive it and are able to begin their journey of life
transformation. It’s not always easy in the current climate but the cumulative
commitment of every member of every team in every region throughout the
country has made a positive difference in the lives of tens of thousands of people.

Thank you to Lisa, our CEO, for 24 years of continued mahi, and to our wonderful
Board of Trustees for their oversight, leadership, governance, and vision.

Thank you to Glen Eden Baptist Church, its leaders and members, who continue to support the vision and mission of Visionwest as we work to see lives transformed in communities throughout our nation. I thank the Lord for the wonderful spirit of unity that exists between the church and trust. That unity is fundamental to the success of Visionwest.

As a Trust Board, we have worked hard to respond to the needs of Visionwest as
an organisation with a focus on development and growth that will lead to even
greater effectiveness in answering the needs of our local communities.

Things we’ve discussed and made decisions on include the continued focus on
our Five-Year Strategic Plan including further development of Kaupapa Māori,
the Whānau Centre, and services to support Māori in a way that will enable the
achievement of hauora outcomes for whānau Māori.

We have continued to invest in our Pātaka Kai and have committed to finding a
warehouse which can be used as a storage and distribution facility for dry and
frozen goods.

We also continue our investment in providing ongoing clinical and pastoral
support for families facing trauma and hardship and in building financial and food independence enabling our whānau to flourish.

Priority attention is being given to the various building projects we are involved
in so as to create space to ensure all Visionwest teams can work efficiently. Our
Glen Eden and Albany Home Healthcare teams have now amalgamated in our
new Westgate office above the NorthWest Shopping Centre. This has provided
a better working environment for staff and has improved delivery and service to
our clients.

We are also working to complete the fit-out of the Glengarry Road building
in Glen Eden. We hope administration staff will start moving into these premises
in the later months of 2022 or early 2023. At the same time, the development
of the Glendale Road site is making good progress as we continue to work with
our architects.

Like many organisations and businesses, staff recruitment is currently a
significant challenge for Visionwest. Investment has been put into our People
and Culture department with new systems and structures that will support better delivery outcomes for our current staff and the hiring of new staff, alongside a professional development programme that will help with ongoing staff training. This is part of our focus on building a better workplace for staff with a vision to creating a fantastic environment to work in.

A highlight of the past year was the winning of awards in the Westpac Business
Awards (you can read about these awards later in this report). These awards are for every person who works for Visionwest and represent the incredible effort made by every team throughout Aotearoa New Zealand.

Once again, thank you to everyone who, despite all the challenges, has made the
2021 – 2022 year so successful.

In closing, I want to thank Brad Haami for his contribution to the Board (Brad
retired from the Board in December 2021), and welcome Jerome Edwards who
was appointed to the Board in February 2022.

Ngā mihi
Arvind Dayal, Board Chair