Check out our great events for seniors across the Region |
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Hasn't the warm weather been lovely in the Wellington Region this past week? Although it seems to have disappeared today! But summer does feel like it's around the corner.
There's plenty of news, information and more in this newsletter, including resources from some of the presentations at the Steady As You Go and Aligned To Go exercise classes (click here) and entertaining events (click here) and much more.
Thank you for sharing a few moments of your day with us. Please give us a call on 04 499 6646 or email info@acwellington.org.nz if you would like to get in touch with us. |
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Join Age Concern's monthly pop-up social connection hubs for seniors: come by for some tea and coffee, and snacks, and a great speaker! Everyone welcome. Next hub events:
Seatoun - Seatoun Village Hall, 22 Forres St, Tuesday 7 November, noon: with a special presentation from the Citizen's Advice Bureau
Upper Hutt - Heretaunga Christian Centre, 51 Lane Street - Wednesday 8 November, 12pm: with a special presentation by a skin cancer specialist
Linden - Linden Community Centre, 10 Linden Avenue, Tawa. Tuesday, 14 November, 1pm: with a special presentation from the Citizen's Advice Bureau
- Lower Hutt - Walter Nash Centre, 22 Taine Street, Taita - Thursday 16 November, 2pm: with a special presentation on scam prevention
- Brooklyn - Vogelmorn Community Centre, 13 Vennell St, Tuesday 28 November, 2pm: with a special presentation from the Citizen's Advice Bureau
Call 04 499 6646 or email events@acwellington.org.nz for details. |
You're invited to a Men's Coffee Group every second Tuesday. The next get together will be on Tuesday 21 November:
Where: Cafe Kaizen at Pataka, Porirua When: Every second Tuesday at 10.30am
An opportunity to get together for a chat and a laugh! This is a fortnightly meet up. Come and give it a try. Wellington is a small place, you may meet people that you once knew, or make new friends. |
INTERGENERATIONAL EVENT AND COFFEE GROUP AT TE POKAPŪ HAPORI - Y CENTRAL |
Join our monthly coffee group for seniors at the Te Pokapū Hapori – Y Central in Manners St. We're collaborating with Best Start Leeds childcare service to hold a special intergenerational time at the start of the coffee groups. The children and seniors spend half an hour together, sometimes sharing stories, reading or signing. The regular coffee group follows at 10.30am.
Where: Te Pokapū Hapori - Y Central, 105 Manners Street, Te Aro When: Thursday 16 November, 10.00am Intergenerational event, & 10.30am coffee group
All welcome. Drop in, or call 04 499 6646 or email events@acwellington.org.nz for details. |
SOME OF OUR LATEST STEADY AS YOU GO FALLS PREVENTION CLASSES |
To find out more about Steady As You Go and for a full list of Steady As You Go and Aligned To Go classes around the Region, click here or call 04 499 6648.
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ALIGNED TO GO FALLS PREVENTION EXERCISE CLASS |
• Dance-based movements
• Seated, standing, and walking movements
• Improve balance, stability, flexibility, and coordination
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Recently developed by Age Concern Otago in collaboration with the University of Otago, Aligned To Go is our newest falls prevention exercise class.
Aligned To Go is quite different from Steady As You Go as it is designed by a contemporary dancer in association with the University. It’s much faster than Steady As You Go, and a little longer. It requires participants to do some barefoot walking and parts of it are dance moves.
This class is suitable for seniors who would like something a little faster than Steady As You Go. Come along to our new trial class:
New class starting 17 November 2023.
When: Fridays 10am
Where: Victoria Bowling Club, 125 Pirie Street, Mt Victoria, Wellington Entry: $3 koha
Please email info@acwellington.org.nz or call 04 499 6648 for more information.
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STEADY AS YOU GO ONLINE EXERCISE CLASSES - ALL WELCOME |
Every Wednesday at 9:30am there is a livestream Steady As You Go class on Zoom. It's open to anyone - you don't need any prior experience. It is a gentle entry-level exercise class designed for seniors. All you need to do is register by filling in the form online (click the blue button below). Come and join the 20+ other seniors online for some gentle exercise fun together! |
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HUTT VALLEY VOLUNTEER CATCH-UP |
Join some of Age Concern Hutt Valley's volunteers for a coffee every couple of months. If you're one of our volunteers, and you would like to come along or would like more information, please email avshutt@acwellington.org.nz or call Tania on 04 499 6646.
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Did you know that by becoming a Member of Age Concern Wellington Region, you'll be contributing to our important work of helping reach isolated and lonely seniors? Plus you'll get our fantastic magazine in the post four times a year! Join now by filling in the form on the website.
Call 04 499 6648 or click the button below to visit the website to find out more. |
WE CAN HELP YOU PLAN FOR YOUR END OF LIFE CARE |
Age Concern Wellington Region has an Advance Care Planning service in partnership with Te Whatu Ora – Health New Zealand. Kay Webster is our amazing Advanced Care Planning Coordinator. She is available to come and talk to you about making an Advance Care Plan. This fantastic service is free. She is also available to make presentations to your group. If you want to know more about this new service and how to get in touch with Kay, please check out our website or call us.
Call 04 499 6646 or visit our website (click here) for more information. |
LIVING WITH ATRIAL FIBRILLATION |
The Heart Foundation is hosting a FREE information session to discuss living with atrial fibrillation (AF).
Dr Matt Webber, cardiologist, and electrophysiologist will talk about understanding and managing AF, medical treatments, and how to keep well. You’ll have the opportunity to share your own experiences or to ask questions. Whanau are also encouraged to come along and learn more about your heart condition.
Wellington When: Wednesday 8 November Where: Matarangi Room, Akau Tangi Sports Centre, Kilbirnie
Time: 6.30pm - 8pm Kapiti When: Tuesday 14 November Where: Grace Hall, Kapiti Impact Hub, Tongariro St, Paraparaumu Time: 6.30pm - 8pm
Please register at heartfoundation.org.nz/events or contact Annette on 04 472 2780 annettes@heartfoundation.org.nz
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HEALTH AND DISABILITY ADVOCACY |
The Health and Disability Advocacy Service is a free service that operates independently from all health and disability service providers, government agencies and HDC.
If you want to know more about your rights when using health or disability services, get questions answered, or make a complaint, they may be able to help.
It's a free service. Advocates should be able to:
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Help you understand your rights when using health or disability services
- Listen to your concerns
- Talk through your options
- Help you to formulate your complaint and make a complaint
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Support you while you resolve your issue
Freephone: 0800 555 050
Email: advocacy@advocacy.org.nz |
The Books at Home Service is a free service for people who are unable to get to a library themselves, permanently. If you wish to join Wellington City Libraries as a Books at Home Borrower, would like to know more about the service, or would like to help by delivering selections to a Books at Home Borrower, please get in touch. Call 04 801 4044 or click here for more information.
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PITO-ONE - HARMONY SINGERS |
If you have friends or family who want to relate to others with cognitive decline or are living with dementia, why not visit the free singing group Pito-One Harmony Singers. It’s a shared space to feel accepted while strengthening neural pathways and slowing cognitive decline while boosting positive emotions and feelings of connection.
When: November 10 and 24, December 8, from 2.30 pm starting with a cup of tea or coffee Where: Petone Baptist Church, 38 Buick Street |
The Karori Community Centre is providing lunch for the local community on the first and third Thursdays of the month. Lunch is vegetarian so it's safe for all to eat. Koha appreciated.
Their next lunch will be on 2 Nov from 11:30 onwards, when there will be a presentation about Pakistan from someone who lives there.
Where: Karori Community Centre, 7 Beauchamp St, Karori
When: First and third Thursdays of the month, 11:30am |
Bowel cancer is one of Aotearoa's most common cancers and second highest cause of death by cancer. Early detection is important, and bowel screen testing aims to save lives by finding bowel cancer at an early stage, when it can most often be treated. Free, at-home tests are available to eligible people. Click here to find out more about the test and local initiatives... You can also find about more about bowel screening on Te Whatu Ora's national bowel screening website here (click here)... |
The Naenae Community Library run a Mid-week Movie screening on Wednesdays at 10am. These are free to customers and they use a drop-down screen in their community space to project the film. The movies are selected from the two streaming services provided to library card holders -- Beamafilm and Kanopy.
Call 04 567 2859 for more information. |
As we age, we may choose to drive our car less than we used to – we may only drive familiar routes or drive only in the daytime, or we may find we are medically unable to continue driving and have to relinquish our driver's licence. There are many options that enable us to maintain our independence and keep doing the things we enjoy when we no longer drive a car.
Reducing or stopping driving does not need to be a limiting factor that prevents you doing what you want, but it helps to think ahead about your future transport needs. Age Concern New Zealand has produced a booklet which highlights options for older New Zealanders to remain active and connected. This includes some things to consider about where you live, community and public transport services, recreation activities as well as social outings.
To download a copy of the booklet click HERE and scroll down to the publication. |
REVIEW OF THE RETIREMENT VILLAGES ACT |
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The Ministry of Housing and Urban Development is leading a review of the Retirement Villages Act 2003 and its associated regulations and codes to ensure they remain fit for purpose and strike a balance between the rights and responsibilities of residents and retirement village operators.
They have released a discussion paper – REVIEW OF THE RETIREMENT VILLAGES ACT 2003; OPTIONS FOR CHANGE. They are seeking feedback via submissions, or answers to a survey, on some or all of the issues raised. They want to hear from retirement village residents, their families, prospective residents, village operators, sector bodies and other organisations with an interest in retirement villages.
They have raised issues and are proposing changes to three main aspects of retirement living – moving in, living in, and moving out.
Issues related to 'Moving in' include: disclosure statements, and occupation right agreements. Issues related to 'Living in" include: maintenance of operator-owned chattels and fixtures, simple and effective dispute resolution, moving from retirement village living into aged residential care, and minimum building standards for retirement village.
Issues related to 'Moving out' include: repayment of the resident's capital sum, stopping outgoings and other fees, and treatment of capital gains/losses.
The focus of the review is to ensure that the Act, regulations, and codes of practice are fit for purpose in the current and future circumstances including: - adequate consumer protections for residents and intending residents of retirement villages
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an effective balance between the rights and responsibilities of residents and operators of retirement villages (operators)
- the ongoing viability of the retirement village sector and its ability to provide a range of retirement housing options and consumer choice
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the rights and responsibilities of residents and operators are appropriately defined, including where they may differ for different occupancy rights
The background to these issues and options for improvement are fully discussed in the Review (132 pp) with outlines in a shorter summary document. To read the full discussion document and make a submission, go to Click here For the summary Click here |
Useful Tips
From phone calls and text messages saying you owe money, need to claim a parcel, or must renew an important document, to emails and letters claiming to want to give you money, there are countless approaches out there. Sadly, it's important to be on your guard.
Some useful tips include considering requests and asking yourself how the request makes you feel. It's also important never to enter passwords on unknown sites. Even clicking on a link in a text message can be dangerous. Scammers are good at making things seem urgent, so perhaps the most useful advice we've come across is to 'pause, reflect, protect." BNZ's scam savvy quiz is also an interesting resource. Give it a try here if you like (click here)... Consumer NZ also has interesting information about scams, including this article: The simple banking process that could stamp out scams - Consumer NZ
Email Scam
An email scam has re-emerged that references Police and other justice sector partners. The email claims authorities have done a search of the email recipient's computer locating explicit illegal material, and that a reply is needed within 48 hours or a warrant will be issued for their arrest. This email is a scam and anyone who receives it should not reply under any circumstances. It's important to note that Police and other government agencies will never contact you out of the blue and ask for your password, credit card or bank details. Anyone who received this email scam is asked to send it as an attachment in an email to the Police Cybercrime Team: cybercrime@police.govt.nz
Phone Scam
We've also heard of a local phone scam where someone pretends to be calling from Age Concern and tries to sell dietary supplements. This is a scam - Age Concern will never call you and try to sell something. Just hang up. Please also report it to us - call us on 04 499 6646 |
IMPORTANT PHONE NUMBERS AND CONTACTS
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THANK YOU HUTT MANA CHARITABLE TRUST FOR YOUR GENEROUS SUPPORT |
We really appreciate your support. Thank you! |
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Age Concern Wellington Region is a registered charity. We are part of a wider network of more than 30 Age Concerns located across the country.
Visit our website to find out more about our work around the Wellington Region and how you can be involved www.acwellington.org.nz © Age Concern Wellington Region Incorporated
Charities # CC26836 |
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