Angie – Staff Update
Hi everyone, the saying is ‘time flies when you’re having fun.’
The New Year saw us ease back to work, by February /March things were getting into full swing and now we find ourselves at the beginning of May! It’s just been over twelve weeks and the team at AJ’s have been very busy.
We have had a continuous supply of work come in from Pro Kiwi, Bremick, Aucom and Every Educaid. There has been lots of variety with something for everyone.
Making the most of the summer, some of us enjoyed catching the last of the Buskers festival, enjoyed the variety of summer fruits on our Wednesday fruit platter and periodically we had Mr Whippy conveniently stop just outside AJ’s on a Thursday around lunch time for those who had a little spare cash.
A new activity this summer has been Special Olympics Golf, held at the Waitakere Golf Club which is all about developing skills. This golf outing is added to the other golf outings where we visit the Ferrymead or Riccarton driving range to practice our swing and to see how far one can hit a ball.
We have also enjoyed participating in the annual Helen Anderson Trust T- Ball Competition, played at Dynasty Park on Thursday afternoons against other organisations. This is a fun social game which is quietly competitive! We have some very enthusiastic fielders and batters. As summer comes to an end, so does T- Ball and we move inside to play polybat and table tennis at the Table Tennis Canterbury sports complex on Blenheim Road. We hire three tables, one is set up for polybat and the other two are for table tennis. We take turns at scoring, (the timer is set for six minutes) and then we rotate amongst ourselves playing up to five games.
Our walking groups have been clocking up some serious kilometres, while the indoor rock climbers at the Adventure Centre have been reaching new heights. Some even record personal bests – this is not for the faint hearted!
Other recreational groups who get out and about include The City Vibes, who explore our city and what it has to offer. We have people visiting libraries, supermarkets and cafes. Visits to Sensory Room at Pioneer Stadium, Orana Park to deliver shredded paper, along with an afternoon of singing, action songs, poi swinging and news sharing at choir. There is car washing at Hillmorton, garden sessions, ten pin bowling, gym sessions, unit grocery shopping and visits to Timezone.
Within the unit we have dancing, fitness sessions, movie groups, craft, yoga, and car cleaning along with the many individual sessions based around movement, fast or slow, high or low, intense or chilled! Of course we also need the general clean-ups which include the rubbish, kitchen, and laundry duties.
Julia Grace is AJ’s media person, who captures small clips, of people working, show casing different types of work we do within the unit. These clips are posted on the AJ’s face book page, and remain there for 24 hours, then magically disappear.
During 2025 we have welcomed Angus, Matty, William and Jeremy to AJ’s. These people graduated from high school at the end of 2024. Throughout their final year they attended AJ’s for some work experience and now have placements at AJ’s.
We welcome Alex, who is in his final year at school and here on work experience with us, and a warm welcome to Shannon who has also joined the team. We farewelled Sophie who recently left us and wish her all the best for the future.
It was with sadness we said farewell to Jacob and Bronte. They have headed off to the big wide world to seek their fortunes and we wish them all the best for their big adventure and safe travels. Recently we advertised and are in the process of finding new team players to join us at AJ’s. Meanwhile, we have rallied round to pick up where Jacob and Bronte left, and also invited Barbara back from retirement, just for a few weeks to ease the load. We are very fortunate to have her – thanks Barbs!
Before Bronte left she instigated the building of a small hutch, where we had the pleasure of watching caterpillars become butterflies. Swan plants and caterpillars were introduced to the hutch. This was a wonderful exercise for everyone to watch and follow the process of the caterpillars eating their way through the swan plants, make their cocoon which became a chrysalis and eventually a butterfly. The hutch was stationed in the candle room, with Mary as the guardian, reporting any progress as it happened. The journey provided much curiosity and discussion amongst everyone.
As it was Easter recently, some of us had the pleasure to consume some hot cross buns for morning tea. Thank you to the chefs on the day!
As we head into autumn and winter, we are all aware that the cold and flu season will be upon us soon. Please take extra precautions with hygiene and if you have any symptoms or feeling unwell best to stay home, take care and help prevent the spread. If in doubt pop a mask on.
Angie.
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