AJ Day Options Trust

28/09/2025

Staff Update - Mike

It’s hard to believe I’ve been at AJs now for over two and a half years – as the saying goes, time fly’s when you’re having fun! I did my last FB update in my first year and a lot has happened since then. I’ve picked up a few new groups including the Monday morning Walking Group which I’m really enjoying. This typically includes Ben M, Harrison, Cam H and Matt K, and we do a different walk each week, usually of around 7 to 8 km. The guys take the primary lead in where we go and typical places include beaches and parks, along rivers and estuaries, around the red zone, hill walks, etc.

I have also picked up the running of our car cleaning contract on a Thursday. This is a contract we have with Te Whatu Ora Canterbury based at Hillmorton Hospital, whereby we clean four cars each week which takes up most of the day. Kevin comes every week and typically does the vacuuming, and Harley and Ayden alternate and they usually take care of surfaces and door jambs. We clean the cars to a high standard (with very positive feedback!) and it’s great to see the guys learning new skills and getting satisfaction from a job well done! They also get paid a sum per each car cleaned so it is great extra income for them.

I continue to do the Climbing Group on Tuesday afternoons at YMCA Adventure Centre, with usual attendees Harrison and Laughie. It’s been great to see these guys improve their climbing skills and gain greater confidence to tackle more challenging climbs.

I always enjoy getting out for a walk on Wednesday afternoon with John G. We tend to walk and talk (sometimes John sings!) while doing a large loop of the local area, often stopping at the City Mission shop in Fitzgerald Ave for a look where John often buys a few bargain CDs and DVDs. Recently we’ve been visiting a few local cafes to try out their wares, John even partaking in some haggis during a recent visit while exploring his Scottish side!

With Margaret away for three months over winter swanning around Europe, I have been doing the Friday morning sensory group at Pioneer Centre every week with the occasional visit to our Community Gardens in Linwood Ave to keep tabs on the weeds. With Margaret’s return a few weeks ago, we have reverted back to week about Sensory group and Gardening group on a Friday morning.

I continue to take the “Wise Guys” group (or as some wags at AJ’s call it the “pensioners group”) fortnightly on a Friday afternoon, which I really enjoy. This comprises 3 older gents Jimmy K, John G and Allan, alternating a visit to the Penny Lane record shop with a visit to one of the malls for a look around and then afternoon tea. It’s a great way to finish the week.

I spend the rest of my time in the workroom where I really enjoy interacting with the clients and working alongside them while supporting them in their work. And I certainly feel much more comfortable and at home with the noise and “busyness” of the workroom than in my first year at AJ’s. Things have been ticking along nicely in the workroom in recent months, with a steady supply of different jobs coming in, enough to keep everyone pretty busy. I love how the workroom provides a number of different tasks for people at a variety of different levels and abilities.

It’s great to have our new staff person Tevin (that’s Kevin with a ‘T’!) onboard and picking things up very quickly. He is fitting in really well and it’s clear the clients really like having him around.

It’s hard to believe it’s now early spring and we are already starting to look ahead to Christmas! Roll on longer days and warmer weather!

That’s all from me, thanks for reading.

10/07/2025

Staff Update - Lynne

Hi all,

AJs has been buzzing with life, with different people coming and going to do activities, while others remain in the workroom working hard and chipping away at various jobs for local businesses.

It has been exciting to welcome a new staff member named Tevin, and we are looking forward to having him as part of the AJs Team.

I have continued to take Harley, Nick and Matthew for the walking/active group each Wednesday. We walk around wetlands, along beaches, beside rivers and estuaries, up and down hills, along city streets, around parks, and when the weather is bad, we head to an indoor walking track. This group has also participated in swimming activities at QE2 and Pioneer, played disc golf at Jelly Park, Warren Park, and QE2, and engaged in trampolining and basketball shooting. We have also visited the Airforce Museum. We often come across interesting things like logging trucks being loaded, drones collecting scientific samples from the estuary, and helicopters hoisting goods in the hills. We spot wildlife, feed eels, and talk to many council workers and dog owners.

Every Thursday morning, I take Chris and two others (from Simon, Anthony, Georgia, Josh, Kyle, Jack, Paul R, and Nick T) to Timezone. The group typically starts with a relaxed morning tea and conversation before heading to the neon-lit Timezone for exciting arcade games. Everyone has different preferences, from basketball and air hockey to Mario Kart. Recently a new duck racing game has been installed, and most people have enjoyed trying that out. Once the games are played, tickets are redeemed at the prize shop, and the people who play the non-ticketed games try their luck with the Big Sweet Land Candy claw machine.

"City Vibes" is a relatively new group, dedicated to exploring the inner city and occasionally nearby suburbs, which gets out and about on a Tuesday morning. One week John N, Hamish and Cam M are the lucky participants and then alternating that group we normally have Laurel, Sarah P, Beth and Dean. The group's purpose is to encourage participants to discover new places while also getting some physical activity (walking). This group has walked around the city viewing the street art, visited art galleries, the Arts centre, Riccarton Bush, Botanic gardens, Turanga Library and the Cardboard Cathedral as well as the Riverside Market, the pop-up Museum and the Memorial Wall. We have also looked at the different sculptures and monuments in the city. This group enjoys watching trams as they go past and has shown an interest in watching the new Christchurch Campus Otago University building going up on Oxford Terrace. We have wandered through Eastgate, The Palms, The Tannery, South City and Barrington Malls, and watched the bakers at work at the Bohemian Bakery.

This year, I started taking Alecia to a gym on Monday mornings for a one-on-one session. Alecia is learning how to use the gym machines and is getting fitter.

I have enjoyed supporting people on other outings as well - I have been taking a group to 10-pin bowling each week and another group to the Ferrymead Driving Range (filling in since Jacob left). Both are a lot of fun, and it’s great to see everybody participating at their level. AJs definitely has some skilled bowlers and golfers in our midst. Most weeks, I join the Polybat crew at the Canterbury Table Tennis Centre, where it's great to see players cooperate, adjust their styles to suit each other and engage in intense rallies and matches.

Lastly, if I’m not out and about on outings, then I can be found in the workroom or the tea-room - either supporting people to achieve satisfaction in completing tasks or helping with providing nourishment during the day – all in all there is always plenty to do at AJ’s.

30/05/2025

Lyric Update 😊

13/05/2025

Staff Update - Angie

Hi everyone, the saying is ‘time flies when you’re having fun.’

The New Year saw us ease back to work, by February /March things were getting into full swing and now we find ourselves at the beginning of May! It’s just been over twelve weeks and the team at AJ’s have been very busy.

We have had a continuous supply of work come in from Pro Kiwi, Bremick, Aucom and Every Educaid. There has been lots of variety with something for everyone.

Making the most of the summer, some of us enjoyed catching the last of the Buskers festival, enjoyed the variety of summer fruits on our Wednesday fruit platter and periodically we had Mr Whippy conveniently stop just outside AJ’s on a Thursday around lunch time for those who had a little spare cash.

A new activity this summer has been Special Olympics Golf, held at the Waitakere Golf Club which is all about developing skills. This golf outing is added to the other golf outings where we visit the Ferrymead or Riccarton driving range to practice our swing and to see how far one can hit a ball.

We have also enjoyed participating in the annual Helen Anderson Trust T- Ball Competition, played at Dynasty Park on Thursday afternoons against other organisations. This is a fun social game which is quietly competitive! We have some very enthusiastic fielders and batters. As summer comes to an end, so does T- Ball and we move inside to play polybat and table tennis at the Table Tennis Canterbury sports complex on Blenheim Road. We hire three tables, one is set up for polybat and the other two are for table tennis. We take turns at scoring, (the timer is set for six minutes) and then we rotate amongst ourselves playing up to five games.

Our walking groups have been clocking up some serious kilometres, while the indoor rock climbers at the Adventure Centre have been reaching new heights. Some even record personal bests - this is not for the faint hearted!

Other recreational groups who get out and about include The City Vibes, who explore our city and what it has to offer. We have people visiting libraries, supermarkets and cafes. Visits to Sensory Room at Pioneer Stadium, Orana Park to deliver shredded paper, along with an afternoon of singing, action songs, poi swinging and news sharing at choir. There is car washing at Hillmorton, garden sessions, ten pin bowling, gym sessions, unit grocery shopping and visits to Timezone.

Within the unit we have dancing, fitness sessions, movie groups, craft, yoga, and car cleaning along with the many individual sessions based around movement, fast or slow, high or low, intense or chilled! Of course we also need the general clean-ups which include the rubbish, kitchen, and laundry duties.

Julia Grace is AJ’s media person, who captures small clips, of people working, show casing different types of work we do within the unit. These clips are posted on the AJ’s face book page, and remain there for 24 hours, then magically disappear.

During 2025 we have welcomed Angus, Matty, William and Jeremy to AJ’s. These people graduated from high school at the end of 2024. Throughout their final year they attended AJ’s for some work experience and now have placements at AJ’s.

We welcome Alex, who is in his final year at school and here on work experience with us, and a warm welcome to Shannon who has also joined the team. We farewelled Sophie who recently left us and wish her all the best for the future.

It was with sadness we said farewell to Jacob and Bronte. They have headed off to the big wide world to seek their fortunes and we wish them all the best for their big adventure and safe travels. Recently we advertised and are in the process of finding new team players to join us at AJ’s. Meanwhile, we have rallied round to pick up where Jacob and Bronte left, and also invited Barbara back from retirement, just for a few weeks to ease the load. We are very fortunate to have her - thanks Barbs!

Before Bronte left, she instigated the building of a small hutch, where we had the pleasure of watching caterpillars become butterflies. Swan plants and caterpillars were introduced to the hutch. This was a wonderful exercise for everyone to watch and follow the process of the caterpillars eating their way through the swan plants, make their cocoon which became a chrysalis and eventually a butterfly. The hutch was stationed in the candle room, with Mary as the guardian, reporting any progress as it happened. The journey provided much curiosity and discussion amongst everyone.

As it was Easter recently, some of us had the pleasure to consume some hot cross buns for morning tea. Thank you to the chefs on the day!

As we head into autumn and winter, we are all aware that the cold and flu season will be upon us soon. Please take extra precautions with hygiene and if you have any symptoms or feeling unwell best to stay home, take care and help prevent the spread. If in doubt pop a mask on.

Angie.

15/04/2025

Recently we said farewell to two of our staff members, Jacob and Bronte, who have left AJs to go travelling.

On their last day they were swarmed with clients at lunchtime wanting to give them speeches before they set off on their trip.

They will be missed by many at AJs, but we are all very excited for them and can’t wait to hear about all their adventures 😊

05/03/2025

Harrison & Bens Famous Pokémon Show - Episode 12

Special Guest: Nick

Special Guest: NickThanks for watching!

16/01/2025

Paul was quite keen to give an update about life at AJs today 😊

14/01/2025

Staaf Update: Mary – The Candlemaker @ AJs

Happy New Year everyone. Another year has flown, and we are now back at work after a lovely break.

Last year, the Candlemaker @ AJs had a busy year, stocking up and filling orders – we covered many church celebrations, remembrance candles to acknowledge the life of loved ones, naming or dedication candles for all the special births, personalised candles for birthdays and anniversaries and the many school leaver candles that the students will have already lit.

Kevin had a good year working in the candle room. He poured many candles and loved to meet the customers and see the joy on their faces when they picked up their candle. He enjoyed a few days, here and there, being in the workshop helping with urgent jobs that came in – he loves to get in to help when he can and as they say, a change is as good as a holiday! He loves the good weather which gives him the chance to bike to work and has noticed it is quicker than waiting for the bus at the beginning and end of each day.

Sarah does the Client Pays during the week – we have a trip to the bank and NZ Post, and she sorts the pays out herself once we get back. We often take a group to bowls on the way to the bank, dependent on weather and if Julia-Grace is taking able-walkers or not – this means Sarah starts the pays a little later, but it doesn’t bother her. She hops in the front seat of the van, makes sure the radio is off, then we all chat.

Biddy loves to start her day with a good catchup about what she has been up to over the week. She sorts out whether she is in this week’s Polybat or T-Ball team and informs me when she comes in. Her tasks include cleaning moulds, re-wicking, cleaning sticks and cutting wicks and bubble wrap to size. She also enjoys pouring floating candles when we need to stock up. Biddy has a Taekwondo session with Julia-Grace on a Thursday morning – she really enjoys her self-defence drills and has steadily improved. When doing her punches her kihup’s are loud and impressive! Biddy enjoys her day at AJs and between work, Learn Active, dance and performances, she likes to find some relaxation time for herself to watch YouTube, Netflix and TVNZ On Demand.

Alecia is always keen to see what job I have ready for her when she arrives. We have a chat about her week then she puts on her apron and starts work. Her favourite task is cleaning the sticks, which are used to keep the wicks straight in the poured candles - she often checks out the ‘clean’ container of sticks to find some that are not so clean, so she can do them before moving onto another task. One of Alecia’s highlights on a Wednesday, is going with Jacob to help with the McDonald’s order – she brings the big box filled with bags of McDonalds in for us to distribute at lunchtime. Once a month, I go with Alecia and John G to the Vinyl Café for morning tea, where they enjoy a good chat and a few laughs. She also enjoys her fortnight activity with Lyric and Julia-Grace – the many activities have included café visits, making bracelets, bowling, Timezone, tie-dyeing, watching a movie, they organised a lunch outing and are also working on a movie project.

Acacia comes in on a Tuesday morning now, as her Thursday is filled with work experience at the Thai Terrace Restaurant – she also works at the Super Fresh Fruit & Vege Shop in Rolleston on a Monday. She uses her communication tablet to tell me of any news or activities, she has been up to. I love to see her beautiful smile and a thumbs up when I ask how things are going. Acacia cleans sticks and moulds and re-wicks them, along with cutting wicks and bubble wrap to size. One of her favourite outings is to go to the movies, I look forward to hearing which one she saw when she gets back.

Our middle table, that is used for workshop jobs, is often filled – we have Sharon, Michelle and Laureen who love to sit and work alongside us. We also have Matt K who has now joined us – he comes and goes and sorts his own work out with Jim or other staff from the workshop. He enjoys the quieter pace in the candle room and likes to listen to the radio as he works.

Not long ago, it was brought to my attention that the candle room stank! Not a great realisation when I had just had a customer and some visitors in earlier! I was getting over a cold and couldn’t smell it, but apparently it was awful. At lunchtime I said I need to ‘find’ the smell which was overheard by Clement, Harley A and Harrison and they were happy to come in and help. With a great sense of smell, they surveyed my room with their noses! Harley A decided it came from a certain corner, and they proceeded to pull everything out…and yes, there it was…a dead mouse! Harrison scooped it up in a shovel and threw it in the bin. Thanks boys, I really appreciated your help.

Thank you for all the lovely gifts of chocolates, lollies and biscuits you have given us for Christmas – these will get shared out to everyone occasionally over the next few months as a treat in the afternoon. Sharon and Michelle are more than happy to hand them out and walk around with huge smiles on their faces as they pass them around to the many ‘thank you’s’ from everyone.

From the Candleroom, I hear many activities going on in the storeroom. We have a group of clients - Harrison, Harley A, Anthony, Harley B, Clement, Sam T, Nick F and Jeff who love to play a board game weekly on a Thursday afternoon or sometimes during lunch. It is often Monopoly, and they play by their own rules, which seem to work…I never hear any arguments, just laughter as they tease each other about some part of the game one is winning over the other!

I enjoy watching the many clients that spend time doing a FOCUS session, and I have to say they have all steadily improved – it’s amazing what a good walk, a session of Taekwondo or blazepods does for their fitness, attitude and keenness to work. I have noticed that some clients join in with another client’s FOCUS session, which can become quite competitive! I have seen them compete in ping pong ball games, basketball, soccer, blazepods, rowing and some even enjoy a dance or two together. They usually end with a smile on their face and there’s nothing better than to observe good sportsmanship!

Once again, we must thank all the wonderful businesses that kept us in work throughout last year and we look forward to continuing working with you. We are fortunate to have so many varied jobs to do - these give the clients a choice to do a job they enjoy, to their own ability.

I hope 2025 brings you all happy times and may it be your best one yet, filled with love and laughter.

16/12/2024

Hi everyone,

Last Thursday we had our client’s Christmas lunch. Lots of excitement and fun for everyone.

We even had a special band performance, and they were brilliant!

MERRY CHRISTMAS 🎄

03/12/2024

The Craft Group - Creating Photo Boards 📸

16/09/2024

STAFF UPDATE - Jim

Hi all,

Sorry for the delay in this update post. Julia-Grace has constantly reminded me its my turn to write one but I always seem to find something else crops up.

I am lucky enough to spend a lot of my time in the workroom where we work on supporting each other to develop our work skills while completing jobs we have received from local businesses. We receive work from a variety of local businesses including Mainland Fasteners, Modular, Fulton Hogan Signs, Pro Kiwi, Bremick Fasteners, Every Educaid and a variety of Printing firms. Its great having this variety of jobs as it means most days everyone in the workroom can do something they find interesting and enjoy doing.

The start of the day is always interesting as there is always someone who has either arrived back from a few days off or someone who has done something interesting and they are keen to catch up with their mates to tell them what they have been up to. This is also when the guys work out who’s going out as some group activities are fortnightly there is often discussions on which group went out last week. Also, if someone is away from the group you see the rest of the group asking who might want to fill in.

Finally, all the chaos settles down as the groups head out and then those of us still in the workroom start finding a job to do and sort out who they feel like sitting beside for the day. The workroom can be a hive of action most days and its great watching many of the guys work together helping each other. You will see someone sealing the bags that someone else has filled but has difficulty with the final sealing. Others will be helping get more materials for people who have runout but have trouble carrying heavy boxes.

A while ago I was really impressed with a group of guys who approached me about organizing a games group 1 morning a week. There are now around 6 people who on a Thursday morning after morning tea that will play a table game that one of them has brought in from home. A favorite appears to be monopoly and I have been surprised at the variety of monopoly boards there are now. This has now lead to another group on a Tuesday morning playing group games on the PlayStation. I’m never sure how much of the games get played but there is always heaps of talking and laughter going on which is great.

Around 11.45 each day chaos resumes as the groups arrive back keen to tell everyone how things went whether its who won at bowls, who won what at Timezone, who they may have seen while they were out or anything else they thought was interesting. Its then lunchtime and after that the process continues for the afternoon.

Another thing we have the privilege to do in the workroom is welcome school students who are starting their transition from school process. Usually, a student will start with coming 1 half day a week. The guys at AJs always like meeting a transition student and many of us will introduce ourselves and talk about what we do at AJs. Several of the guys will ask the student what school they go to and what other things they like to do. The guys are always keen to show the students around AJs and will help them during the morning tea break.

AJs has always had a tradition that on your last day of work for the week, regardless of whether you do 1 or 5 days you are allowed a free drink. A couple of the transition students have just started a full day and several of the guys from AJs were quick to remind me that now the students are here a full day they should get a drink. I was really impressed by how they advocated for the students and how important it was to be fair.

I hope this gives you a bit of a picture of the fun and enjoyment we get to have with each other every day at AJs. I’m also sure the next update will be done shortly as most of the staff are more organized than me.

Jim

09/07/2024

https://youtu.be/XbZv9UgDT1Y

Special Guest: EddyThanks for watching!