Community Connections

07/05/2026

Community Connections Business Team doing their bit to celebrate NZSL week!
Share your signed song with us!

05/05/2026

This week is New Zealand Sign Language week.
Did you know, it's 20 years since NZSL was recognised as an official language of Aotearoa New Zealand?
Help celebrate and make Aotearoa a place where anyone can sign anywhere!

30/04/2026

A lovely post to close Autism Awareness month with.
Your voice is beautiful and you have the right to use it to express yourself with pride.
https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1K5Gx5Ymki/

28/04/2026

Wednesday, April 29th, at 10am is the time for Hoods Up Volume Down!
We'd love you to participate in a 'Hoods Up Volume Down' quiet hour for Autism Acceptance Month.
At 10am, turn down the lights, turn down the noise and turn up for the autistic and wider autism communities.

Autism New Zealand (https://autismnz.org.nz/autism-acceptance-month/) have more information, some cool resources, and posters, as well as hoodies to buy.
You can also register your event with them, so they know just how big Hoods Up Volume Down is growing!

Share with us how you spend your quiet hour - did you stay inside and keep the environment quiet with dim lights? Did you find a quiet spot out in nature or in your local community? Let us know what the experience was like for you and what insights you gained.

07/04/2026

Have you caught up with the latest edition of The Connector yet?
Find it here:

Ngā pānuitanga Newsletters Te tūhonotanga The Connector The Connector is a quarterly newsletter written for the people we support, their families/whānau, and the communities surrounding Community Connections. Ngā Pānuitanga

26/03/2026

'This is a critical moment.'
'Disability support services are a vital part of New Zealand’s social infrastructure. Ensuring their continuity, particularly in times of disruption, must be a priority.'

Read our open letter to the government calling for urgent action: https://nzdsn.org.nz/open-letter-to-government-fuel-pressures-and-the-impact-on-disability-support-services/

11/02/2026

IHC Art Awards

Exciting news, entries for the IHC Art Awards 2026 open at 9.00am on Friday 1 May and close at 5.00pm on Sunday 31 May 2026.

Please note that we’ve made a couple of updates to the Art Awards Terms and Conditions. We kindly ask that you take a moment to read through the Terms and Conditions before submitting your entry and agreeing to the conditions of entry.

The updates are:

Framing and Mounting
Artworks that are not framed or mounted (excluding sculptures and craft) won’t be able to be displayed at Webb’s Wellington or made available for sale this year. These pieces will be returned to the artist.

Payment Details
Due to the growing number of entries and the increasing administration costs involved in purchasing Prezzy Cards and Gift Cards, we are no longer able to make payments using these methods. If your artwork is sold, we will pay 100% of the sale proceeds directly into your bank account.

When sending in your artwork, please include proof of your bank account details. This can be a bank deposit slip or a copy of an online bank statement (with transactions removed) that clearly shows the bank logo, your account name, and your account number.

Please ensure we receive your proof of bank account by Monday 15 June 2026.

If we haven’t received these details by Monday 15 June 2026, we won’t be able to submit your entry for this year’s Art Awards, and any artwork already received will be returned to you.

The Art Awards website is currently being updated but please visit the website for further information, including the updated Terms and Conditions.

The IHC Art Awards provides artists with an intellectual disability or intellectual disability and autism the opportunity to have their talent recognised, their voices heard and to sell their work. The IHC Art Awards are open to people aged 13 or over and don’t need to be using our services.

If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact either Danette on 021 244 2697 or Helen on 022 016 6365.

Warmest regards

H


Helen Alloway | Programmes Coordinator
IHC New Zealand
Tel: 04 463 2495 | Mobile: 022 016 6365 | www.ihc.org.nz
Level 15, 57 Willis Street | PO Box 4155, Wellington 6140

IHC is New Zealand's leading provider of services for people with intellectual disabilities. IHC advocates for the rights, inclusion and welfare of all people with intellectual disabilities and supports them to live satisfying lives in the community.

12/12/2025

This is our last video in the series, where our Everyday Networks members talk what their favourite thing is about being in a network group.
We hope you've enjoyed these videos as much as we enjoyed making them!
https://youtu.be/IHfuAeg-9Mk

This video features our Everyday Networks members talking about what their favourite things are about being part of Everyday Networks groups. For more inform...

09/12/2025

Here's the fourth video in our series, which features our Everyday Networks members talking about how they help and support each other being in the group.
https://youtu.be/idMw_eo9NzU

This video features our Everyday Networks members talking how they help support each other in their Everyday Networks groups. For more information, check out...

07/12/2025

This is our third video in the series, with our Everyday Networks members talking about how being in an Everyday Networks group has helped their happiness and wellbeing
https://youtu.be/hfxX9gZNkr0

This video features our Everyday Networks members talking about what how being an Everyday Networks group member has helped or impacted their wellbeing. For ...

04/12/2025

Today we share the second in our series of videos, featuring our awesome Everyday Networks group members 🤩
In this video they talk about the kinds of things they get up to when they get together as a group.
https://youtu.be/jifqM8BI7HM

This video features our Everyday Networks members talking about what how being what Everyday Networks groups do together. For more information, check out con...

02/12/2025

Today is International Day of Persons with Disabilities, which is a global initiative. In Aotearoa, it is a day to promote awareness, understanding, and inclusion of our more than 1.1 million tāngata whaikaha (disabled people).
As part of promoting awareness, our team has pulled together some videos of our Everyday Networks group members. In these videos, our members talk about what an Everyday Networks group is, what they do, how they support each other, how it has impacted their wellbeing, and what their favourite thing is about being in a group.
Here is the first video where members talk about what a network group is. https://youtu.be/LMvJHtCHmsQ

This video features our Everyday Networks members talking about what an Everyday Networks group is. For more information, check out connections.org.nz/everyd...