Strong Voices

A man in a supported living service, who wanted to challenge a welfare guardianship application, had his access to funds to pay for it blocked by his welfare guardian.

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As entries close for the 2023 IHC Art Awards – the 20th year of the national competition – the attention shifts to this year’s judges who will make their call on the winners.

Gwen Kirkwood always gave credit to the people of Matamata – a town with a huge heart for people with intellectual disabilities. But the truth was that no one had a bigger heart than Gwen herself.

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Sometimes when life is hard, it can be good to spend time with people who make things look easy.

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Philip Poulton was 10 years old when he went to live in Kimberley Hospital in Levin in 1967. He was the second eldest of five children from a family farming at Rangiwiu Station at Kumeroa, near Dannevirke, and he had Down syndrome.

It might have been Lorde’s Solar Power tour, but the sun was shining on Emma at the Western Springs concert in Auckland in March.

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IHC Chair Tony Shaw says this year the organisation will focus on providing a clearer role for IHC Associations and the Member Council and improving communication with all members.

In December, Tony told members that an independent review of the IHC Member Council and IHC Associations had suggested some changes in approach.

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For years IHC has been telling the Government that disabled students are not getting the education they are entitled to.

Now, just when IHC’s 14-year-old education complaint is getting close to a hearing in the Human Rights Review Tribunal, there has been a change of heart.

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If you have visited the IHC website recently, you will have noticed some changes.

While you were enjoying a summer holiday, we were quietly launching a new website designed to make it easier for families, whānau and everyone else to find what they are looking for.

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IHC is expanding its Family-Whānau Liaison team in Northland and Auckland to make sure more families caring for people with intellectual disabilities can get the help they are missing out on.

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