Most poverty in New Zealand is invisible. Unlike many parts of the world, the lives of most people living in financial hardship cannot be seen from the main streets in New Zealand says Cardinal John Dew. Last week he released a letter to mark the third World Day of the Poor. He says he starts Read more
The Salvation Army has criticised the ‘wellbeing-focused Government’ for not doing enough to lift the most vulnerable New Zealanders out of poverty. This year’s report, Are you well? Are we safe? takes a wellbeing approach to social progress as a nation. The report shows a lack of tangible progress in key areas. “We cannot blame Government Read more
The Sikh Sangat Free Kitchen provides food to the homeless and needy. The project began in Auckland at the beginning of winter in 2017 and is now spreading around the country. On this Saturday night, we’re joined by volunteers who run the Te Puke, Tauranga and Hamilton branches of the Free Kitchen, which also operates Read more
The Warm Hearts Winter Appeal will provide beds, warm bedding and winter clothing, as well as help to pay medical costs for disadvantaged Kiwi kids on Variety’s emergency list. There are nearly 30 vulnerable Bay of Plenty children on Variety the Children’s Charity’s emergency waiting list for vital winter essentials, and more than 400 families Read more
When Kauri Noble, 13, found out one of his mates lived in a van with his sister and parents under a bridge at Wairoa river, Te Puna, he was so upset and moved that he told his mother Luana Noble that he wanted to do something to help. “He was shocked to learn that a Read more
On Wednesday Pope Francis was warning that to ignore the poor is to despise God and that the Lord’s mercy for us is tightly connected to our own mercy for others. His warning came in the same week that New Zealand was featured in one of United Kingdom’s national newspapers in a story about the New Zealand Read more
With the future welfare and prosperity of our nation dependent on the effective education of our next generation, denying the reality of hardship or poverty in New Zealand is futile and self defeating. While official inflation is under control, housing costs have increased at twice the rate of wages and other incomes. With many families Read more