Community wins to warm your toes this winter
Thousands of New Zealanders are joining together to take action every week on the causes that matter most to them. This last month (May-June 2018) has been especially busy for OurActionStation community campaigners.
Here are some of the highlights of the recent campaign activity, of high profile campaigns and also successful outcomes so far this year!
Our community is in the media
Bronwyn Ngatai’s effort to Save Stand children’s health camp received a boost with national media attention. Stand camps are a specialist social service working with families, teachers and communities to offer residential care to children. Its funding has stayed the same for ten years despite rising costs.
Bronwyn, the parent of a child who had a life-changing experience at the camp, is standing up herself to save the service so other children will have the chance to benefit. Read more here and here.
Just in the last week the campaign to Save Wellington Citizens Advice Bureau! took off after the Council threatened to remove funding.
The Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) is a free service run by volunteers that offers advice with anything from resolving a tenancy dispute, understanding an employment contract, working out how to pay off a debt, or finding information about our rights in a relationship breakup.
The Council is now proposing to reduce its support to the CAB and put its existence under threat. Concerned locals and volunteers who work at the CAB will be presenting their (two) petitions next Thursday in a last minute effort to change councillors’ minds.
Is the Citizens Advice Bureau in your area under threat? Start a campaign today.
What to do about our waste is a question that has a growing profile in the media. There are many factors that make it a complex issue — we all need to buy less plastic goods, and retailers can sell goods without plastic packaging. Also companies need to design products with their end of life in mind, to be responsible for their disposal.
The Kiwi Bottle Drive team have been featured in many media stories as one of the few groups with a practical solution, by setting up local collection systems for bottles and plastic. Find out more and support the Bottle Drive campaign here.
Our community is working towards better mental health outcomes
Last year ActionStation members made mental health a priority and alongside a number of passionate individuals and groups created a movement that was successful achieving one of the main recommendations of the People’s Mental Health Review: an official inquiry.
ActionStation has now partnered with Mary O’Hagan from PeerZone to engage in Government Inquiry into Mental Health and Addiction to work towards better mental health outcomes.
Over 9000 people have so far taken action to show their support for this, and four other open submissions launched on OurActionStation. You can still sign in support of all the submissions here.
As winter sets in I want to take a moment to celebrate several campaign wins so far this year to keep us warm on the inside. There have been a number of heartwarming successes by people leading campaigns for their communities. Here are some of their stories.
Restoring a voice for children
Katie Tuck is the parent of a child participating in the Growing Up in New Zealand study. The study is a study of child development, which gathers information over time of children growing up in modern New Zealand.
The study provides insights into things like “paid parental leave, immunisation, family housing and mobility, household safety, participation in Early Childhood Education, and pre- and post-natal depression among fathers.”
When Katie found out the funding had been slashed she says parents were “pretty angry and very disappointed”.
In response she started a campaign for the restoration of funding and won! Last month the government announced $2 million boost. This will restore the sample size of families involved from about 2000 families back to 6800 families, meaning researchers can interview more families, and collect better data.
According to the Minister for Social Development Carmel Sepuloni, restoring the original sample size will allow for more detailed analysis of different ethnic groups such as Māori and Pacific peoples. A third of the cohort children were born to at least one parent who did not grow up in New Zealand, and where at least one parent was multilingual.
Katie says the campaign won because of the “great team of supporters behind the scenes, and various people picking it up and talking about it in the media.”
She says that OurActionStation “gave us a platform to be able to approach media and then something to show the public’s level of concern. It was a helpful vehicle to gather supporters and to demonstrate support for our study.”
Rallying around social workers
Amy Ross is a member of the social work community and became concerned when new laws were drafted that would redefine who is or isn’t a social worker.
Amy started the Stand Together for Social Work — Change the Registration Bill! campaign to “be heard, to make people aware of the issue, to mobilise them and get our voices heard by Government.”
She helped bring the social work community leaders together to draft an alternative to the bill. Social workers nationally emailed, called and visited their MPs with clear talking points.
“The petition was noted by Ministers even before being presented so it clearly got attention and helped us get cut through,” says Amy. She is now “very hopeful. The bill is being redrafted with our communities. We are on the way to a good result.”
Giving a voice to whānau
Last year the ActionStation community supported Ninakaye in asking for an inquiry into the Family Court system. Her group Community in Action delivered their petition to Parliament in a moving and powerful tikanga (Māori culture) ceremony last year that we were proud to tautoko (support).
The politicians listened. Last month Justice Minister Andrew Little ordered a review into the Family Court to fix a system “in crisis”. It’s great news, though Ninakaye is still waiting for more details on the form it will take before celebrating success.
Power to cyclists!
In April Heidi Hughes from advocacy group Cycle Mount (in Mount Maunganui) ran a one week campaign that saved a trial of a new cycleway, making sure it gets off the ground.
Justice for Fatima
The Hit & Run Inquiry volunteer group were part of the momentum that in April won an official inquiry into what happened in Afghanistan where the New Zealand Defence Force staff were involved in the death and injury of 21 citizens, including a three year old girl. This is something we have been pushing for since March last year.
Blue penguins saved
In November last year Kimberley Collins started a campaign to protect the little blue penguins on her local beach in Timaru. The Council was considering opening the beach to dog walking but the efforts of the campaigners won a reprieve! In February the Timaru Council reversed the decision, saving the penguin habitat!
With hundreds or thousands getting together behind a cause we believe in, together we have the power to make change. It could be signing a petition, sending an email, making an official submission, visiting your local MP or starting your own campaign, we can be the difference we want to see in the world.
Eliot
Community Campaign Manager
P.S. The OurActionStation community campaign platform puts power in the hands of everyday New Zealanders to lead campaigns on the issues that are important to us all.
“The petition is doing well, the first 1000 was the hardest to reach, anything after that is just awesome. I couldn’t have done it without your support and this fabulous petition template.” — Bronwyn, ‘Save Stand children’s health camp’ campaign
“Thanks for your support and for having this awesome platform available.” — Sacha, ‘Save Wellington’s Citizens Advice Bureau!’ campaign
The platform is sustained through the contributions made by people like you. Your contribution, however big or small, will go towards supporting these citizen campaigns, by helping:
- set up and promote the campaign;
- attract media;
- navigate social media;
- organise events;
- connect with politicians;
- win campaigns!
A regular donation enables ActionStation to offer sustained support, guidance and training opportunities. Donate today.
P.P.S What have you noticed that needs fixing in the world? Where do you see an opportunity for positive change? Did your friend just say “something should be done about that!” Start a campaign today.
