An official ceremony to welcome new kaimahi into the Mana Ake - Stronger for Tomorrow service, was held at the Design Lab this week (July 11).

Hector Matthews, Canterbury DHB Executive Director of Maori and Pacific Health, opened the Mihi Whakatau by extending a warm welcome. He said: "It's cold outside but we extend a warm welcome to all those new staff who will be joining us."

Sir John Hansen, Chair of the Canterbury Clinical Network and the Mana Ake service level alliance echoed the welcome and acknowledged the hard work that's gone into getting the service up and running so quickly.

"We were honoured and privileged to be approached by the DHB and ministers to deliver this programme - it's a big problem and a big project which has been pulled together so quickly through a lot of hard work and long hours from a lot of people.

"Canterbury Clinical Network was set up and empowered by Canterbury DHB nine years ago to provide leadership to the integration and transformation of the Canterbury health system. Our history of achieving results has been by ensuring patients are at the centre of everything we do, and in this initiative we are putting the child at the centre.

"We're really privileged to welcome you here today and into the Mana Ake initiative as we enter the next phase."

The 12.5 new FTE will go through the newly-designed induction before starting work in 23 schools across three clusters next term (23 July).

Mana Ake - Stronger for Tomorrow was established in March 2018 to support the wellbeing of children in school years 1-8 living with the legacy of earthquakes across Canterbury and Kaikoura. It is being collaboratively designed by health, education, police, non-government organisations and communities.

It was first rolled out to schools in the Tamai (east Christchurch) and Uru Mānuka (Hornby) Kāhui Ako (Communities of Learning) on 30 April 2018. These schools, along with the Mana Ake kaimahi and the governance group, have been working together to develop an initiative which focuses on improving wellbeing through early intervention for children who are experiencing ongoing wellbeing concerns, such as anxiety or low mood.

Mana Ake kaimahi have a diverse range of skills and include social workers, whānau ora kaimahi, counsellors and teachers. They can support individual children and groups of children and provide information and workshops for parents.

To find out more about Mana Ake - Stronger for Tomorrow, visit Focus Areas > Mana Ake - Stronger for tomorrow.