It is an exciting time for Family Start Manukau. Our team has been re-energised by a study which proved what we were already seeing - the Family Start programme saves lives, reducing non-accidental injuries and creating a myriad of positive effects on the families who take part.

Since the summer break we've been engaged in a process to review our strategic plan - to work out how we can better serve our community.

Family Start Manukau CEO Colleen Fakalogotoa is excited about the future:

"We've proven ourselves. We've got that part of our work progressing very nicely thank you. Now we're asking what are the things we would really like to launch out into - that might be linked to what we do - that we feel could also make a difference."

Colleen Fakalogatoa at a recent brainstorming session

Recently - a facilitator led Colleen and the Board of Family Start Manukau on a two day brain-storming session to help the organisation think outside the box about the development.

"It was fabulous fun and it was so freeing," Colleen says.

"We were thinking about different elements of the service we could bring in. A lot of talk about IT (information technology)."

Anna Bailey, Ruth Sinclair and Bill Takerei collaborate at the retreat

There were a number of conversations about the potential of apps in the work. The team also talked about ideas for developing sustainable businesses that could generate income.

The next phase is to pull together all the work that has been done and identify the ideas that have potential for development. The facilitator and Colleen are working on that now.

At Family Start Manukau we are always keen to hear from you - our clients - with your ideas.

If you can think of ways we can better serve you - don't hesitate to contact us here.