Kia ora koutou,
What gorgeous weather we’ve had recently! I hope you’ve been able to get out and about and make the most of it. We held our first tenant advisory group meeting of the year on 31 January and it was wonderful to hear everyone’s thoughts on a wide range of village-related topics. Please let our Helpdesk know if you’d like to participate; our next meeting will be in April.
I’m delighted to announce an exciting collaboration with Age Concern Auckland and The Selwyn Foundation which has resulted in the creation of a ‘Connector’ position. The Age Concern Connector service seeks to assist older adults in accessing services related to health, wellbeing, housing and community engagement. Whether it’s finding local activities and opportunities for seniors to meet up with others in the local area, helping people understand government benefits and complete official paperwork, or lending a hand with decluttering in the home, the Connector will play a vital role in enhancing all-round quality of life. This role is also a resource for anyone who may be experiencing elder abuse of any kind. You can contact the Connector through your Community Manager. The Connector will be wearing a Haumaru staff identity card. Thanks to our partner, The Selwyn Foundation, for their assistance in jointly funding this position.
We’ve received a few reports from tenants lately about some vendors/sales representatives who are claiming that Haumaru Housing has endorsed them to make sales calls in the villages. Please be aware that Haumaru does not form agreements with any commercial vendor. It’s important to be mindful of this and to be cautious if you choose to purchase a service from any such individual (for utilities or internet connection, for example).
Finally, we have a new gardening contractor starting this month in all our villages in the North and West. The gardeners will be introducing themselves and inviting tenants to ‘getting to know you’ BBQs, so please do consider attending if you can.
Ngā mihi,
Gillian Schweizer,
Chief Executive Officer
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Wanted: all your soft plastics!
As part of our focus on sustainability, we’d like to encourage tenants to recycle their soft plastics. From next month, therefore, we’ll be placing a grey bin labelled ‘SOFT PLASTIC’ in each village to collect the items listed below. The bins will be emptied by the Community Managers who’ll drop off the soft plastics at Countdown stores where they manage it from there. Please look out for the bins and start recycling the following soft plastics which can then be turned into a wide range of useful new plastic products:
- Bags used for bread, fresh produce, frozen food, pasta and rice
- Wrappers used for confectionary, biscuits, snack foods and diary products; chip packets and lightly foiled bags
- Bags/wrappers for cereals, toilet paper and kitchen towels
- Courier envelopes, bubble wrap and shopping bags
- Dry pet food bags and garden potting mix bags
- Basically, anything made of plastic that can be scrunched into a ball.
Please make sure the bags are empty and dry. In order not to contaminate the recycling, please do not put the following items into the soft plastic bin:
- Food scraps, food or drink containers, coffee cups
- Rigid plastics such as yoghurt pots or plastic bottles
- Face masks, disposable gloves or RAT-test packaging
- Foil or metal cans
- Compostable plastic bags
- General rubbish.
For further information on the ‘do’s and don’ts’, visit: recycling.kiwi.nz
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Prevention is better than cure!
Alma and Stratford Court tenants enjoyed an information session and morning tea with special guests Community Constables Jasmine Bundle and Simon Fox at Milford Senior Citizens Centre recently. Jasmine and Simon gave a very interesting presentation about crime prevention and answered tenants’ many questions on the issue. Community Manager Lisa McKinnon then spoke about the various WINZ entitlements which are available for groceries, dental work or for replacing essential appliances, etc. The Community Constables provided the following useful advice for contacting Police:
- Call 111 when you need an immediate response from Police, Fire or Ambulance.
- Call 105 to report things that don’t need urgent Police action.
- Call 555 to report road incidents that are urgent but not life-threatening.
- Call 0800 555 111 (Crimestoppers) to report a crime anonymously.
- Contact Police online at 105.police.govt.nz to report any situation that doesn’t require immediate Police or Emergency Services attendance or to get in touch for general advice or queries.
- Visit your local Police station in person.
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'Safer Plates' deter thieves
Constables Jasmine and Simon also asked us to make tenants aware of the nationwide ‘Safer Plates’ programme which provides secure stainless-steel screws to the public. These screws make it difficult for thieves to remove number plates, so reducing the number of stolen registration plates used by criminals. Tenants will be able to have the regular screws on their number plates replaced with tamper-resistant screws at a ‘Safer plates’ community event which will take place at Albany Westfield in the undercover carpark area on 12 March.
If you’re concerned about an immediate threat to life or property, call the emergency services on 111.
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Money-saving tips for 2024
As the cost-of-living squeeze continues to put pressure on household budgets, here are a few tips from Consumer NZ to give you ‘more bang for your buck’:
- Plan your food shop. Prepare a meal plan and check the fridge before you shop, to avoid food waste. Make a shopping list and stick to it. If you don’t, you’ll be tempted to add extra items into your trolley.
- Compare unit prices (the cost per 100g or 100ml) to work out whether a big packet is better value than a small one.
- Don’t get hooked by supermarket specials. Check the regular price to see if it’s a real bargain and don’t buy things you don’t need just because they’re on special.
- Know what’s in season and don’t buy overpriced imported produce. Frozen fruit and vegetables are a good, budget option and are still a good source of nutrition.
- Buy cheaper cuts of meat. Cook them in your slow cooker for a budget family meal. Add extra veges and canned lentils and you’ll have enough for leftovers.
- Check your power plan at powerswitch.org.nz, a free and independent service that helps you work out which power company and pricing plan is the cheapest for you from among participating retailers.
- Be energy-efficient by making some small changes around the home such as washing clothes in cold water and switching appliances off at the wall.
- Set the thermostat to the right temperature. Anything higher than 18-20°C and you’ll be paying for the luxury of pretending you’re in the tropics. Put on an extra layer instead of cranking up the heat.
- Open your curtains. This maximises the solar gains throughout the day. Make sure you close them when evening sets in, to retain the heat.
- Shop around for the best price for insurance and everyday essentials using free, online price-checking tools such as Grocer, Gaspy and PriceSpy.
- Use your SuperGold card which will help you stretch your money further with instant discounts and special offers.
MoneyTalks is a free confidential budgeting advice service, to help people manage their money. You can get free budgeting and debt management support by visiting moneytalks.co.nz for information, resources and chat. To locate a free financial mentor near you, please visit moneytalks. co.nz/find-help-now, or call 0800 345 123, text 4029. Available 8am–8pm, Monday to Friday; 9am–4pm Saturday; 10am–2pm Sunday.
