Nelson Grey Power Committee Members

How Does Grey Power Work?

Nelson Grey Power is one of 76 Associations that make up the Grey Power Federation.

All Associations have two votes at our Annual Conference.

Those votes decide what the Board does to take the members wishes forward over the next year.

In other words, the 'majority rules'.

The Board itself acts as an advocate on behalf of all of the Associations (who represent our Members) when we approach the government.

Grey Power is one one of the very few organisations who have direct access to the Prime minister, Cabinet Ministers and in fact any members of Parliament.

How effective is Grey Power?

The Aged Care Sector is one area where we have been very effective.

We are involved with New Zealand Standards for the new standard for Home Help and Home Care.

We are consulted by Government and Health Boards for our opinion in this Sector.

The Human Rights Commission have asked us to arrange meetings to discuss Wages, Equal Opportunities and Staffing Levels in the Aged Care Sector.

The level of assets a person can have when they enter a rest home is another success story.

Through strong advocacy the exemption level increases by $10,000 per year.

The workload carried by some Board Members is heavy and is done willingly on a voluntary basis.

This is one reason why we have direct access to parliament.

We are not paid to push the interests of our members, so we have no axe to grind.

Excerpt taken from:
Grey Power Nelson Newsletter, Sept 2011.
Written by Pam Schouten - Zone Director