Minister of Disability Issues Visits Kilmarnock Enterprises

Kilmarnock Enterprises was pleased to host the Minister of Disability Issues, Hon. Priyanca Radhakrishnan, recently. The visit marked the first by Minister Radhakrishnan to an Aotearoa Disability Enterprises (ADE) group organisation following her appointment as Minister of Disability Issues earlier this year. Aotearoa Disability Enterprises (ADE) is a collective formed by nine disability enterprises operating across Aotearoa, New Zealand. ADE works to advocate for disability enterprises and the Kiwis with intellectual disabilities they create purposeful employment opportunities for.

During her visit, the Minister participated in a factory tour, visiting each of Kilmarnock’s working areas. Throughout the tour, Minister Radhakrishnan was shown the specialised processes used at Kilmarnock to ensure work is accessible for a broad range of skill and ability levels. The Minister also had the opportunity to meet several employees to discuss the positive impact their work at Kilmarnock has on their lives.

Following her tour of Kilmarnock’s expansive premises, Minister Radhakrishnan met with Kilmarnock Enterprises CEO and ADE Secretary Michael Toothill. The Minister and Mr Toothill engaged in a robust and productive conversation around the replacement of the Minimum Wage Exemption Permit (MWEP). Mr Toothill expressed that the ADE group supports evolution in the sector but is concerned that the proposed replacement scheme could impact disability enterprises’ ability to continue providing purposeful employment for Kiwis with intellectual disabilities. He stressed that it is critical the proposed replacement for the MWEP does not negatively impact workers with intellectual disabilities or the organisations creating employment opportunities for them. Minister Radhakrishnan heard the ADE’s concerns and recognised the importance of ADE’s active involvement in the design and implementation of the replacement scheme.

Kilmarnock Enterprises and the ADE group were pleased to have the opportunity to meet with Minister Radhakrishnan and look forward to working closely with the Government to support and empower Kiwis with intellectual disabilities.

Learn more about Aotearoa Disability Enterprises (ADE) on our website here

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Kilmarnock Enterprises Selected as a Delivering For Good Recipient

Will&Able Bulk, a Kilmarnock initiative, has been selected as a Delivering For Good finalist for 2023 by NZ Post. As one of the twelve charitable organisations chosen as finalists, Will&Able Bulk will receive one year of free courier delivery services courtesy of NZ Post.

As a non-profit organisation that relies on courier services to deliver our products to customers nationwide, receiving free deliveries for one year will have a significant impact. It will allow us to invest the money we spend on courier costs into growing our operation and creating more employment opportunities for people with intellectual disabilities. We are incredibly excited for the year ahead and we are very grateful to NZ Post for selecting Will&Able Bulk as a 2023 finalist.

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Kilmarnock Academy and Te Pūkenga Collaboration

Kilmarnock Enterprises is collaborating with Te Pūkenga to offer a Food Safety and Food Packing training course through the Kilmarnock Academy. Six learners from Kilmarnock Enterprises are completing the course, with two tutors from Te Pūkenga leading classroom-based and practical learning every Tuesday morning.

Our students will learn and complete assessments on five NZQA unit standards throughout the course. The assessed standards will include the management of contamination hazards and control methods, safe work practices, food safety methods and the cleaning of food production areas and equipment. Food packaging is a significant area of business for Kilmarnock, enabling students of this course to implement and reinforce the skills they are learning in their work. Combining course training and on-the-job skill reinforcement provides our learners with a strong and competitive skill set, supporting them to transition into employment beyond Kilmarnock in the future, should they wish to.

The Kilmarnock Academy programme is empowering Kiwis with intellectual disabilities to build the confidence and skill they need to take control and lead the lives they want to live.

We are excited to expand our collaboration with Te Pūkenga to offer further opportunities for Kiwis with intellectual disabilities in the future.

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Elisha’s Story

Usually, saying goodbye is a sad experience, but at Kilmarnock, nothing makes us happier than seeing members of our whānau go on the next step of their journey.

Elisha has been accepted into Te Pūkenga, where he will be undertaking a course in creative media. When Elisha started at Kilmarnock after finishing school, he had a dream to study, but this dream didn’t feel achievable to him. Four years on, Elisha leaves Kilmarnock with a well-rounded skillset and the confidence to achieve his dream.

We are so excited to see Elisha take on this new challenge, and we are proud to have been a partner in his success.

Listen to Elisha reflect on his time at Kilmarnock below.

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Tristan’s Story

We take great pride in building and further developing the skillsets of our team at Kilmarnock. However, alongside learning new skills, we must have the confidence to use them. Therefore, supporting our team to grow their confidence is one of the most impactful things we can offer at Kilmarnock.

When Tristan joined Kilmarnock in 2019, he was a reserved young man, his supervisors noting that it was a challenge to receive any response from him. For the most part, Tristan was a closed book and was unable to engage confidently with those around him.

Over two years have passed since Tristan joined Kilmarnock, and he is now completely unrecognisable from his former self. Tristan has become a bold and engaged member of the Kilmarnock whānau and a meticulous worker. We believe that Tristan’s new-found confidence can be attributed to, in large part, Kilmarnock’s model of encouraging skill-building through trial and error in a safe and supportive environment. Our model supports our team to feel competent and trust their judgement.

We were delighted to receive an email last year from Tristan’s mother describing an experience highlighting how significantly Tristan’s confidence has grown.

Tristan’s mother wrote that while out for lunch, Tristan spotted a co-worker from Kilmarnock and leapt up to greet him. Tristan’s mother was taken aback and said she could not recall Tristan ever voluntarily engaging in public like this, preferring to avoid eye contact and ignore others. Her email concluded with a thank you, attributing the growth in Tristan’s confidence to his time spent at Kilmarnock.

Tristan’s transformation is incredible, and we are proud to have been a partner in building his confidence. We look forward to seeing all that an empowered and confident Tristan will achieve.  

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Allie & Todd: A Kilmarnock Story

Allie and Todd Quested began their journeys at Kilmarnock as young people in 1984 and 1985, respectively. A lot has changed since they both started at Kilmarnock; they’ve seen employees come and go, the adoption of a new social enterprise model and our shift to a modern new facility in Wigram.

The most significant change, however, is the love that has blossomed between Allie and Todd. Celebrating seventeen years married in 2022, Allie and Todd have much to be proud of. Together they have built a family and grown a community around them, with meaningful lifelong friendships at Kilmarnock and beyond.

Allie and Todd have what everyone wants, someone to love and be loved by. At Kilmarnock, we are proud to create an environment that empowers people with intellectual disabilities to thrive and build the lives they want to lead.

Watch below to hear Allie and Todd’s story in their own words.

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Mark James – Choosing My Path

Mark James is the epitome of a Kilmarnock success story.
While he faced challenges and felt misunderstood in his youth, joining Kilmarnock gave Mark access to the support and opportunities he needed to take control and choose his path in life.

Mark started at Kilmarnock at age seventeen, following a turbulent and challenging time in secondary school. At Kilmarnock, Mark has worked hard developing technical skills through work in our factory. In 2019, he took a leap of faith, giving studying a second chance, participating in the Kura course at the Kilmarnock Academy. Through the Kura course, Mark flourished, transforming himself into a confident and considered leader. Despite his new outlook, Mark remains connected to his past challenges, empowering others around him to set their targets high and achieve incredible things.

Once convinced that his only path in life led to incarceration,
Mark has chosen his own path at Kilmarnock.

Listen to Mark discuss his journey in his own words below.


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Saving 6 Tonnes of Plastic from Landfill Every Year!

Every year Kilmarnock and Terra Cat save 6 Tonnes of plastic from New Zealand landfills through our cleaning and recycling partnership.

Terra Cat – a large New Zealand machinery supplier, uses plastic canisters to test machine oil samples in their Christchurch lab. Once these samples have been tested, the used canisters are sent to the Kilmarnock Basecamp in Wigram, Christchurch. The Kilmarnock team then clean and refurbish the canisters to be used again in the Terra Cat network. Through our partnership 20,000 canisters and 200,000 lids are cleaned and recycled each year, equivalent to 6 tonnes, or the weight of an adult African Elephant!

Our more than twelve-year relationship with Terra Cat has not only created great work for our team, it also supported our wider expansion into waste diversion and sustainability-focused work for a wide range of organisations. As of the date of writing, 1/3 of Kilmarnock’s income is created from work associated with landfill diversion and recycling, we are incredibly proud to be doing our bit to support a broad range of sustainability initiatives.

Check out how we clean and refurbish canisters for Terra Cat below!


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Creating a World that Values Diversity | EHF Fellow Michelle Sharp at New Frontiers

Michelle Sharp leads Kilmarnock Ventures in Christchurch, New Zealand, which provides employment, training and qualifications to people with intellectual disabilities. Inspired by the people she works with every day, she maintains she has “the best job in the world” and that New Zealand can lead by example, to create a world that values diversity. This video was filmed at New Frontiers / Te Tūhura Nuku – April 2018 in Upper Hutt, New Zealand. https://www.newfrontiers.nz 

 

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New Zealand: The Golden Age of Christchurch – a creative, dynamic city | Bridget Williams for Duncan Cotterill

‘What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments but woven into the lives of others.’ Pericles – elected Strategos of Athens, 494-429 BCE

These words were said by Pericles during his leadership of Athens, when his city was left in ruins after the devastating Peloponnesian War. His guidance came at a time when Athens needed it the most: the Athenians lost their beloved and iconic Parthenon and Pericles was faced with the hard decision to abandon or rebuild. Pericles saw this as an opportunity to reinvent Athens.

Through his leadership, Pericles transformed Athens – investing in art, culture and festivals. Most importantly, Pericles instilled the concept of active citizenship – he encouraged Athenians to take part in the decisions of the city. In fact, he went so far as to say that citizens should ‘fall in love with her’; so intimate he thought their relationship ought to be with their city. In today’s society, this era of Athens is commonly known as the ‘Golden Age’.

Christchurch has faced a similar history, with parts of the city destroyed in the earthquakes and major damage to the iconic Christchurch Cathedral. However, many saw this devastation as an opportunity to re-establish Christchurch. The movements that took place during the earthquakes’ aftermath also echoed Pericles’ concept of active citizenship.

The Student Volunteer Army, E.P.I.C., GAP Filler, and The Ministry of Awesome show how keen we were (and still are) to invest, engage and be involved as active citizens of Christchurch. This shift put the spotlight on Christchurch, both nationally and internationally giving us special recognition as a new city open to change and creativity.

There is also a feeling of commercial commitment, as more and more innovative and refreshing businesses emerge. Nick Inkster – owner of O.G.B.Bar, Troy Bilbrough – founder of Bacon Brothers, and Ami Muir – owner of Pepa Stationery, show that the younger generation are investing in this city, when in former years we would typically be losing young talent overseas. This in itself is an example of active citizenship: people choosing to stay and devote their ideas and energy to the city.

Some businesses are going a step further and want to assist Christchurch beyond profit. Social enterprises such as Kilmarnock Enterprises, Ethique, Exchange Christchurch, and Little Yellow Bird are contributing to important employment, cultural, community and environmental issues – taking the responsibility of active citizenship to the next level. So much so, that Christchurch is receiving international attention in this space. As a result, we have been given some incredible opportunities – such as hosting SingularityU in 2016, and the Social Enterprise World Forum in 2017.

Christchurch continues to maximise further opportunities to build a creative, dynamic city and we’re putting our hand up where it matters. For example, we’ve signed up to the Smart Cities programme, which is exploring new technology and approaches to help improve the safety, wellbeing and economic security of residents. We’re involved with Techweek – a festival amplifying New Zealand innovation. The Council’s Innovation and Sustainability Fund encourages ideas and projects that align with active citizenship in the community, schools, and business, and to help house new opportunities, we will have a state-of-the-art Convention Centre.

There’s no denying that the earthquakes shook us physically and mentally. They changed our city and we lost 90% of the CBD’s infrastructure in the process, but from this loss, we realised what was important (and what Pericles knew over 2,500 years ago): it’s not buildings or ‘stone monuments’ that matter, but the ideas and values we weave into the lives of others. The increase in social enterprise, B-Corps and Corporate Consciousness in Christchurch shows that modern businesses understand this, and have made such ideas and values a central element of their own ethos and business models.

The social enterprise sector is only going to grow. This is already evident, with Internal Affairs investing $5.5 million into developing social enterprise, in collaboration with the Akina Foundation. Based on figures from Scotland, the New Zealand social enterprise sector could grow to 4,000 social enterprises by 2025, generating $2 billion for the economy1. With Christchurch already dominating in this area, we can only see this as a positive opportunity and a chance to create our own ‘Golden Age’.

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