Diabetes Foundation Aotearoa

14/01/2026

The Gardens4Health team have put this reminder out about the Queensland Fruit fly which could hugely impact our the food production industry here. All the best to the community members out there trying to find these pests, and to the hard working people at MPI for containing and eliminating.

17/12/2025

Diabetes Foundation Aotearoa is closed until 5 January. Meri Kirihimete ki a koutou ko te whānau. We can't wait to work with you again in 2026!

08/12/2025

Shout out to Diabetes Christchurch who were busy working away at raising awareness in workplaces during the month of November (and every month!). Great to see the write up and all the events being carried out from a fellow community based organisation https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/read/70850954/the-star-november-06-2025.

01/12/2025

Congratulations to MHT Diabetes Trust on 25 years!

30/11/2025

Excellent new paper from Kanchana Perera et al, using DCSS Audit data. The aim from the paper "Māori and Pacific adults in New Zealand (NZ) with type 2 diabetes are at high risk of Diabetic Kidney Disease (DKD). This study assessed whether the same was true in young-onset type 2 diabetes". Link to whole paper here https://kwnsfk27.r.eu-west-1.awstrack.me/L0/https:%2F%2Fdoi.org%2F10.1016%2Fj.diabres.2025.113018/1/0102019ac79a88bc-8edd9cbd-db6e-4bd2-a037-eee4a1a251c0-000000/bGJghQRocRu4xzOXTbtMK9dDXVs=454

16/11/2025

Have a look at the new website for this amazing initiative Healthy Auckland Together, HAT, brings 20 organisations together to achieve the goal "Let’s make it easier for Aucklanders to eat well, move more and keep healthy". https://www.healthyaucklandtogether.org.nz/

13/11/2025

The early response to our collaborative workplace survey is very heartening, but we'd really like more! Diabetes Foundation Aotearoa, MHT Diabetes, Diabetes Christchurch and Diabetes Wellington are working together for World Diabetes Day, to find out more about the workplace situation in Aotearoa New Zealand. Please help us out by filling in this short survey (anonymous), whether you're a business owner, manager, worker, or someone with diabetes who has a view on a workplace, it's all a help. Link here https://forms.gle/yLhpbvNDayEBZFza9

13/11/2025

This clip contains one of the key messages from a new video in our podcast series. Diabetes Foundation Aotearoa Patron and founder, Distinguished Professor David Simmons sits down to have a conversation with Diabetes Foundation Aotearoa CEO, Karen Pickering. In this clip David talks about how important investment is, particularly in Primary care, to prevent complications. In the full video they cover a range of topics, including memories of some of the key figures, projects and developments in diabetes, particularly in South Auckland. They talk about how things have changed and what David sees as being important today. Thank you to the Lion Foundation for funding support, and Will and team at Campfire Studios. Full video here https://youtu.be/BbR7Cr4DX04

12/11/2025

Growing healthy kai is something we're all right behind, but here's a reminder from our Gardens4Health team, what happens in the outdoors affects us all. Keep an eye out for these unwanted invaders, there is what to look for and what to do in this information sheet from Biosecurity NZ.

Biosecurity New Zealand is urging Aucklanders to be on the lookout for yellow-legged hornets (Vespa velutina) following the discovery of a queen hornet in the early stages of building a nest in the suburb of Glenfield.

The yellow-legged hornet is a biosecurity concern due to its potential impact on honeybee and wild bee populations.

For information on what to keep an eye out for, see our factsheet: https://bit.ly/3Lrep8E

Any potential sightings of the yellow-legged hornet or a nest should be photographed, and reported online at https://bit.ly/3LreqcI or by calling our exotic pest and disease hotline 0800 80 99 66.

06/11/2025

Getting ready for World Diabetes Day next week, Diabetes Foundation Aotearoa, MHT Diabetes Trust , Diabetes Christchurch and Diabetes Wellington have collaborated on several projects including a questionnaire to look more at the situation in workplaces in Aotearoa New Zealand in relation to diabetes. What is already in place for workers, what challenges are there, what help is needed, are among the questions. If you're a workplace (or worker with an interest in diabetes), it would be great if you could fill in (and share) this short, anonymous questionnaire https://forms.gle/t2siQfgpu6tumjNRA

05/11/2025

This month in recognition of November's diabetes focus, we are releasing video conversations with three amazing people for whom diabetes is an important part of life. We are delighted to introduce this first in the series, where current Board member Graham King and past Board member Pat Spellman kōrero about Graham's diabetes journey. Pat and Graham cover a wide range of discussion, from diagnosis, living with diabetes, the history in the whanau, perspective as Māori, how important it is to share information, thinking about the future and much more.

22/10/2025

Go team!🌻

Ngā mihi nui Headway - Auckland for facilitating a great workshop on supporting volunteers with brain injuries in our gardens! 🌿
We're proud to be learning how to make our spaces more inclusive, supportive, and diverse together 🤝

If you've had a brain injury and are keen to join a community garden, we'd love to hear from you! You can contact us or Headway, and we will work together to introduce you to our awesome network 🌽

Thank you to the Ōrākei Local Board and the Meadowbank Community Centre for hosting us.