Health and Wellbeing Apprentice up for Industry Award
An Auckland woman who supports people with mental illness and brain injuries is up for an industry award.
Careerforce, the Industry Training Organisation for the health and wellbeing sector is hosting its first Training
Excellence Awards ceremony next month to celebrate the success of its trainees.
Katrina Collins is a support worker and a true success story as a Careerforce apprentice.
After working as a cleaner for six years at Goodwood Park Healthcare in Auckland, her natural abilities have been
developed and she is now working as a support worker supporting people with mental health problems and those who
suffered traumatic brain injury.
Her abilities and work ethic are now being recognised at a higher level and this year she is a finalist for Apprentice
of the Year. While working alongside clients as a cleaner she realised she had an innate compassion and affinity with
them. Goodwood Park Healthcare recognised this and enrolled her to complete the New Zealand Apprenticeship in Brain
Injury Rehabilitation.
“After six years I have been approached to do support work. I have built a lot of relationships up with the clients and
over time a lot of trust. I wanted to learn more about how to best work alongside them.”
Her Training Coordinator Emily Spurdle says, “Katrina is a down to earth, hard working woman, with true compassion for
the people she works with. As a support worker she is able to work alongside our clients with an uplifting attitude.”
In addition to her role as a support worker, she runs an art group for the clients once a week. This is a way to share
her other passion for art. Outside of work she is involved in art exhibitions that raise money for Hospice.
“I am passionate about helping with organisations like Hospice who do fantastic work for families in difficult times.”