After joining the All Saints Presbyterian Church Fruit and Veges scheme last year, the foodbanks are able to access fresh fruit and vegetables for food parcels at the best possible price.

The big charities' involvement over the past year is encouraging, says a Fruit and Veges scheme spokesperson.

"We feel privileged to be involved in doing that work with them — it is good to know that our wholesale buying power is being used for good.

"Their involvement has definitely increased the volume we buy and they are quite easy to supply, as they pack up their own produce."

About the scheme

All Saints set up the not-for- profit project ten years ago. It's going strong - and keeps on growing.

During the past year, two new distribution centres joined the five established centres working with the scheme.

Between these centres and the main foodbanks, the scheme today has a presence throughout Dunedin (apart from Mosgiel where no volunteers are available), says Rev. Canon Michael Wallace from All Saints.

How the scheme works

The not-for-profit scheme uses bulk-buying power to supply bargain price, top-quality fruit and vegetables.

Fruit and vegetables are provided through the MG Dunedin fresh produce suppliers' group, where a volunteer buyer selects produce for the distribution centres.

In addition, locally sourced eggs, honey and milk are now providing extra ways to enhance the scheme.

The good value food is intended for households battling rapidly rising food prices. Hundreds of Dunedin families benefit.

Who uses the scheme

People need the scheme for many reasons, says a volunteer.

"We have people who are unable to get out and shop for themselves, so we collect the bags for them and distribute them."

The number of local families accessing the fruit and veggies scheme waxes and wanes depending on the time of year, but remains strong overall.

"Recently we've had a lot more students coming in to buy affordable produce — although, interestingly, it is mainly flatting groups of young women. The guys don't seem as keen" the volunteer adds.

"An interesting development is that we are getting more people who want to come in on a Thursday and browse our produce stall at All Saints rather than having us pack up bags for them" he said.

"Some people prefer to come and make their own choices, which is great as well. The main thing is that people are able to access good quality produce at the lowest possible cost."

In Port Chalmers about twelve people access the produce bags each Thursday.

"It is important for us to help look after our community and it is a good outreach programme for our church" a helper says.

Source

• ODT

After almost five years of service, O'Neill's last day was 9 August.

Children's records destroyed

The Royal Commission found Presbyterian Support Otago (PSO) in late 2017 had destroyed records of children in its care.

Established in 2018, PSO was set up to investigate children, young people and vulnerable adults' experiences of abuse and neglect in State and non-State care between 1950-1999.

The Royal Commission heard in 2017 that PSO's former chief executive, Gillian Bremner, had instructed a staff member to destroy the records.

The only thing she told the staff member to retain was a register of names and dates.

Bremner told the Inquiry she destroyed the records after seeking advice from lawyer and ex-PSO board chairperson Frazer Barton.

O'Neill does not know why the records were destroyed but says it is not something she would have done.

"All I am aware of is that a staff member at the time, who is no longer here, was informed the destruction of the records was to occur" she told RNZ.

"At the end of the day, all I can say is that I am heartbroken that those records were destroyed.

"I am completely appreciative of the fact that it would've enabled individuals who had been on a journey of care to have access to information of what they've been through and I am desperately sorry that occurred."

Inquiry takes its toll

O'Neill said her few years leading Presbyterian Support Otago through its response to the Royal Commission had been a significant time.

"It does take a toll, it is something that sits with you, it doesn't leave you."

It was "a massive piece of work and everybody here has done a phenomenal job" she said.

"After five years and all of the dealings like Covid etc, I think it's now time for somebody else to take the reins and lead the organisation forward."

Advice investigated

New Zealand Law Society president Frazer Barton has taken leave of absence since a complaint was made about legal advice he provided concerning the destruction of the records.

The commission's report says that when PSO asked Barton if the records could be destroyed, he said Yes - at an "appropriate milestone or anniversary".

Barton told RNZ he did not know in 2017 and 2018 an inquiry was in the offing, or that the records would have been crucial to it.

"My advice to destroy them at an appropriate time, that's not go ahead and destroy them now" he said.

Law firm Anderson Lloyd - of which Barton is a partner - said the issue concerning destroying Presbyterian Support Otago's documents is now the subject of Law Society complaints. They support that process.

"The Abuse in Care Royal Commission report was heart-rending, and our sympathies lie with the abuse survivors" Anderson Lloyd said.

Source

• RNZ

The Church has appointed a senior King's Counsel (KC) to investigate allegations that arose during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care hearing last month.

The Church has agreed terms of reference with the KC who will act as an independent investigator.

Rev Wayne Matheson, executive secretary of the Church assembly, told the ODT "the hearing was the first the church had heard of the allegations".

Once the Royal Commission gives permission to access the material the investigator will start work.

Matheson said the Church and the Presbyterian Support Otago (PSO), are separate organisations and, because the church was a separate entity from the PSO, it would investigate allegations that relate only to Presbyterian church members.

Records destroyed

Allegations that records were deliberately destroyed in 2017 and 2018 surfaced during a Royal Commission hearing on 19 October.

The Commission heard that in 2017 a "senior decision-maker" at PSO undertook a review of records held about children who lived in its residential homes. They decided apart from a register of names and dates, the record would be destroyed.

Details of historical abuse suffered by children and their subsequent struggles to get redress, were outlined when PSO chief executive Ms Jo O'Neill gave evidence at the Royal Commission.

Asked if the decision to destroy the records could have been influenced by the formation of the royal commission, O'Neill, who began with PSO in 2019, said she would only be speculating. She believed the PSO would have been aware that there were plans for a commission.

O'Neill says she recalls reading mentions of a paedophile ring situation relating to a case raised in 2020.

In response to questioning by Commissioner, Paul Gibson, O'Neill said neither the Church nor the PSO have investigated what happened to children in their care.

The PSO has received six complaints relating to 1950 - 1960 and three between the late 1980s and 1991, when the facility closed at the Glendinning Presbyterian Children's Home (pictured).

The PSO also operates two other homes.

The complaints were made between 2004 and 2019.

Evidence provided to the Royal Commission by Cooper Legal alleges abuse from the age of 5 to about 14.

The ODT reports the allegation includes "being passed around a ring of paedophiles comprised of Presbyterian Church parish members, being beaten with objects and once being tied to a flagpole while naked as punishment for grieving her father's death".

In 2018, the moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand wrote to the Government asking it to extend the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care to include faith-based organisations.

In April 2022, the Royal Commission said it was extending its Anglican investigation to include the Presbyterian, Methodist and Salvation Army faiths, and that this will be known as the 'Protestant and Other Faiths Investigation'.

The Commission has investigated state-integrated but not state schools, nor charismatic Christian megachurches such as Hillsong.

The Ministry of Education's Sensitive Claims of Abuse in State Schools investigates and responds to claims of sexual abuse in state schools.

• Sources
  ODT
• ODT
• Wikipedia
• Ministry of Education
• Presbyterian Church

The latest Catholic facility to announce its imminent closure is Waiatarua Mercy Parklands in Auckland.

Residents and their relatives of the 97-bed 100-staff rest home are being consulted about the closure.

Besides lacking staff, the aged care facility, which was started by the Sisters of Mercy, is losing $100,000 per month.

Management has announced it will close in three months.

Residents must find alternative care within that time.

Relatives are shocked and upset.

Speaking for the Mercy management team, Ann Coughlan announced the news.

"It is with incredible sadness that I announce that after nearly 40 years of operation in the Ellerslie area, Mercy Parklands will close in its entirety, which will be effective in three months from today.

"This is a very sad day for our residents, their whanau and families, our staff and everyone in our community who has been involved in our operations over the decades appreciate this will come as a great shock and that it is a blow to the community - again, I am very sorry for that," Coughlan wrote to relatives.

Relatives had hoped the rest home could remain open and said they had raised $60,000, with commitments of a further $30,000 for that to occur.

Presbyterian Support's Enliven

Finding sufficient staff for rest homes is a problem mirrored throughout New Zealand.

The ODT reports that staff levels at Presbyterian Support Otago's (PSO) Enliven rest homes, plummeted by more than a third within a year.

Permanent staff turnover is almost 30 percent.

Last month PSO announced the closure of its 24-bed psychogeriatric unit at Dunedin's Ross Home due to a lack of staff.

In the year to 30 June, PSO staffing had reduced from 682 to 443 caregivers.

"The cost of overtime and rest-home and hospital beds not being filled also impacts our occupancy rates and income," he says.

The exodus of staff caused a "huge" impact on those who remained and also affects the organisation's ability to operate at full capacity.

He attributes the staff shortages to the Covid-19 pandemic, a shortage of nurses and caregivers in New Zealand and the higher pay offered to those who worked for Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand amid the rising cost of living.

PSO's financial situation was concerning because while the overall financial result showed a net surplus of $600,000, this included net revaluation gains from investment properties.

"The underlying operating result is a significant net deficit of $1.6 million," he said.

"This is not as bad as some of the other Presbyterian organisations in New Zealand but still very sobering."

Mepham thinks the Government could help by offering targeted financial support to registered charities operating in the aged-care sector.

This "would enable providers like PSO to offer pay parity with Te Whatu Ora," he says.

Mepham said the PSO did not exist to return a profit to shareholders, and any profit supported its social services, and that this was true of other many other aged-care providers.

St Joseph's Home of Compassion

A couple of months ago, St Joseph's Home of Compassion 87-bed rest home in Upper Hutt was facing imminent closure. Today it hopes to keep its doors open after all.

Hearing of the closure, Upper Hutt mayor Wayne Guppy said it was "catastrophic for the community."

His comment prompted help in the form of a partnership with another aged-care provider, Heritage Lifecare, to work in partnership with the Sisters of Compassion.

But Waiatarua Mercy Parklands board chairman Arthur Morris says it is unlikely to be able to remain open.

Source

• ODT
• NZ Herald
• NZ Herald