Services:

• Older People
• Youth, Children & Families
• Mental Health
• Elder Care Canterbury

Hearing the voices of Mairehau

Mairehau residents will have a chance to have a say on the needs of their community over the next few weeks.

The Shirley/Papanui Community Board is particularly interested in the needs of families, parents, children and teenagers and has commissioned Presbyterian Support to do a social and recreational needs analysis for the Mairehau area. 

The research aims at building an understanding of existing social and recreational services, and fostering collaboration between agencies that work in the area.  Another aim will be to identify any gaps in the access and provision of services and facilities. On the basis of the information collected, recommendations will be made on how these gaps can best be addressed. 

Presbyterian Support’s research approach aims to maximise input from residents and key stakeholders. “We believe it is crucial to hear as many voices as possible, so the findings and recommendations can be representative of the community,” says researcher Sue Milligan. “In order to facilitate this, a variety of traditional and innovative research methods will be used. These include conducting a community forum, a survey of randomly selected residents, and approaching people at ‘people hubs’ for an informal, but semi-structured chat about their views on the Mairehau community. Any other residents of Mairehau are also welcome to contact us to have their say.”

The project team consists of Sue Milligan and Mike Jillings from Presbyterian Support, with supervision from Bruce Meder of the Shirley/Papanui Community board. Mike Jillings is a Community and Youth worker with a Bachelor of Arts (honours) in community and youth studies.  Mike was previously involved in a review of local youth provision delivered by a YMCA in London. Sue Milligan is a researcher with a Bachelor of Arts (honours) in political science. Sue has previously worked on the Family and Whanau Wellbeing project (funded by FoRST), and the youthful anger project. 

For further information please contact Mike Jillings on 363 8216, or Sue Milligan on 363 8203.