Phil will never forget the night he arrived to work at the Mission and looked up and saw a sight that left him exhilarated and moved. Across the entrance to the men’s emergency night shelter was a beautiful whakairo which he had stored in safekeeping for more than a decade.
Read MoreThursday is Judy Stewart’s day to volunteer at the City Mission Rangiora Op Shop – and get this - she has been turning up on Thursdays for five decades.
This extraordinary service to her community was highlighted yesterday (June 17) when she was presented with an outstanding achievement award by Christchurch Mayor Phil Mauger at the Canterbury Volunteer Recognition Awards.
Read MoreWinter makes everything harder when life is going against you.
No-one wants to live in poverty and debt, or to suffer from mental health and addiction issues, or to be without adequate housing, or to have to rely on the City Mission for regular food parcels.
Read MoreCompassion is a common ground for humans no matter what their religion, or colour, or culture … or anything, says Farid Ahmed.
Read More.Jan Spence left a magnificent legacy of work in the mental health and addiction area. Her impact on our AOD services have been truly amazing, and while, Jan being Jan, she would say it is all due to her staff, really her energy and vision is why our AOD expertise and caring approach is so highly regarded today.
Read MoreThe City Mission team helped Ally turn her life around after serious addiction problems and become a fulltime mum once again. She attended our Wahine Whai Ora women’s day programme, which helps women manage addiction by working in groups and with individual counselling. Ally had been hurt badly by meth including being imprisoned and losing just about everything, including her kids.
Read MoreWe are excited to announce that Foodstuffs NZ is once again hosting the Family2Family annual appeal, and we invite you to join us in making a difference in the lives of families in need throughout New Zealand.
This year’s appeal is set to run from April 8th to May 5th.
Read MoreEaster messages abound in the work Reverend Chris Orczy sees at the Mission.
Chris is the St Luke’s Inner-City Chaplain and while his parish is the streets, the Mission’s chapel is a place to linger and connect with its clients and staff.
“It’s that sense of resurrection and new life,” he says of Easter meanings.
“That's really what a lot of these people are going through. Society has given up on them and they might as well be dead according to society. But if they can come to the Mission and be told they're actually in some way valuable and they don't have to live this life of addiction or violence or whatever they can come here, then a new life is possible.”
Read MoreWe are a social welfare agency for adults, but many people don’t realise how much we do to help young people in times of need. Our services have a huge and direct impact on the lives of thousands of young people. We are very proud of that.
Read MoreThe City Mission continually helps the most vulnerable in our community, and we are proud to share the impact and tangible outcomes in our second annual Impact Report.
This Impact Report for 2023 brings together in one publication, statistics and stories about the positive ways that your donations make to the lives of those we, at the Mission, and that you also, care deeply about.
Read MoreThe young woman pointed to the space in her flat’s family room where she and her partner stood when they first walked into the flat. “I started getting emotional,” she remembered. “I didn’t believe it. I was thinking, ‘It can’t be real. This cannot be real’. I couldn’t cry then, but I cried when everyone left.
Read More“Life's not worth living if you don't consider people who are less fortunate than you are. If you can't give somebody a leg up, or if you can't share what you can spare, then you are not a part of the community you are living in.” This is the heartwarming explanation Dr Amama Thornley gives when asked why she has given her time over an incredible 35 years to look after homeless people at the City Mission.
Read More“This Christmas will be the best, the best ….” says Mandy and maybe because it’s too painful to say “ever” she leaves the word unsaid but hanging in the air. She’s 51 and sits nervously, yet determinedly, in one of the many counselling rooms tucked away in the rabbit warren of the City Mission’s headquarters in Hereford Street. This Christmas will be the first in decades she is sober. She is going to celebrate it with her daughters in Australia who she loves more than anything.
Read MoreAlison and Hamish Wilson go above and beyond when it comes to supporting the City Mission. Not only do this super couple make a regular donation via our CareForce Programme towards our work, they are also key members of our foodbank volunteer team.
Read MoreCity Mission volunteers enjoyed a High Tea on Saturday in an annual event to thank them for giving so much to the Mission over the year. We have about 170 regular volunteers across all our sections. The high tea was held at All Souls Church in Merivale and City Missioner Corinne thanked the volunteers for making it possible for us to do so much more to help people thanks to their voluntary hours.
Read MoreWhen people reach their mid-90s they often start looking ahead and thinking about the big 100 to come.
Charities are no different and here at the Christchurch City Mission we are very aware we will celebrate a century of looking after people in 2029. Our beginnings as an organisation – a social welfare agency and charity – began in 1929 as the impact of the Great Depression was starting to hurt Christchurch more and more.
Read MoreAlmost 30 of Christchurch’s top restaurants have signed on to a campaign to raise money for families who can’t afford their children’s school uniforms and stationery.
Throughout September, the restaurants will offer a special Bayleys Plate Up For A Purpose dish on their menus and a donation from these dishes will go towards the Christchurch City Mission’s Back to School family support programme.
Read MoreAt the City Mission we often think how wonderful it would be if we were no longer needed, if Canterbury magically found the answers to problems such as hunger, homelessness, addiction, and mental health disorders. But the sad truth is in our 95th year we are needed more than ever and the services we provide to thousands of local people are more are vital and desperately needed than ever.
Read MoreStaying dry is everything for someone who is homeless and who is trying to get through a winter night sleeping rough on the streets. Once wet, they can’t get dry. Wetness makes it impossible to be warm no matter how many clothes are being worn.
So it’s horrifying to hear one of our clients, Damien, talk about how sometimes in Christchurch he had freezing water poured in his sleeping bag while he was asleep on the ground.
Read MoreOur new Foodbank, which includes a traditional parcel pick-up as well as an innovative new self-serve option, was launched on Friday June 23 at a ceremony attended by Foodstuffs representatives and Christchurch Central MP Duncan Webb.
The Foodbank building also has a new warehouse area plus offices and is the final piece in our redevelopment which has been built over the last two years. The building was officially opened and blessed on June 8, and now was the time to have the first clients try it out and celebrate the beginning of a new era.
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