10 May 2011

The changed face of Christchurch after the February 22 earthquake has disrupted plans for Pact’s new vocational service in the city.

Pact won the contract to launch a new vocational service in Christchurch, to be managed by Pact West Coast, which already runs a successful vocational service for people with disabilities on the coast.

However, Pact client programmes and service development manager Glenn Murtagh said that following the earthquake finding a property became a huge challenge. In addition, many clients are now displaced from their normal activities - making establishing the service extremely challenging - and most providers are still in survival mode.

Therefore, Pact has suggested a new service to the Ministry of Social Development to provide additional support for clients, providers and the community within the disability sector in Christchurch, helping with the re-establishment of services and normal activities for clients and providers. Pact proposes this could run for six to 12 months. Discussions are now underway with the ministry – we’ll report back next month.