Our History

People look out the windows of white van with the International Symbol of Access on the open passenger side door and the back door and Hamilton Sheltered Workshops and Training Centre Incorporated written on the side.

In the Beginning

Interactionz began in 1967 as the Waikato branch of the Auckland Disabled Citizens’ Society.

In 1970, the organisation established a sheltered workshop in Peachgrove Road, Hamilton East, where members undertook contract work for local businesses. Over time, the workshop grew.

In 1976 an additional training centre was established in Bryant Rd, Te Rapa, where people gained skills including cooking, woodwork and metal work, with the aim of getting jobs in the community. In 1985 the organisation changed its name to Hamilton Sheltered Workshops and Training Centre to align with the opening of its purpose-built workshop and office premises in Sunshine Avenue, Te Rapa.

A yellow koru with orange flames coming off it like a stylised image of the sun.

A Change of Philosophy

A major philosophical change took place in 2000. Community participation and inclusion became a stronger focus, and the Peachgrove Road and Bryant Road workshops closed and merged with the Sunshine Avenue site. There was another name change, this time to Lifestyle 2000. In 2003, contract work stopped and vocational services were concentrated on.

The organisation became a charitable trust in 2005 and was renamed Lifestyle Trust. It wholly embraced the philosophy of inclusion and has continued to develop and refine the way it supports people.

In 2007, in a move to bring the organisation and its people closer to the community, three community centres were established in suburban Hamilton. The main office moved to Dinsdale and the industrial-zoned Sunshine Avenue site was sold. Funds were invested in Lifestyle Futures Ltd instead of bricks and mortar, and the organisation has rented office spaces since.

nteractionz former logo is a koru in shades of green and teal with profile faces around the outer edge. Its te reo Maaori name, Tari Whakawhitinga, and taglines, Empowering Lifestyles Atamai Whakatinanatanga is under the word Interactionz.

Focusing on Mentoring – A Person-Driven Approach

In 2009, Lifestyle Transitionz Ltd was established by Lifestyle Trust to lead a research and development project into how to best support our disabled community. A person-driven approach was adopted, supporting people to live the lives they want to live, not the life someone else thinks is best for them. To reflect the change in philosophy, the way we work with people and the importance we place on relationships, Lifestyle Trust began trading as Interactionz.

The organisation was also gifted its Maaori name, Tari Whakawhitinga, by Matua Pakira Watene. Interactionz invested in two years of national and global research to understand how a person-driven approach would look in practice and to develop the necessary tools to support it.

As a result, mentoring by Interactionz became about upskilling and empowering a person, with the objective of living their best life and reducing long-term dependency. The focus changed to assisting people to become more actively included citizens in their community, rather than being supported in disability-specific environments.

Interactionz is now able to support individuals from a diverse range of backgrounds and abilities within the community, ensuring that they get the assistance they need to help them achieve what they want to in their lives.

Part of enabling people to live their best lives was identifying exactly what their chosen lives looked like. Interactionz staff initially discussed people’s dreams and aspirations with them and wrote plans.

But realising that visual planning tools like PATH, MAP, FOCUS and Te Whare Tapa Whaa were more accessible for most people, and more fun to use, Interactionz began offering a visual planning service to the disabled people in its community.

The Interactionz logo is two scribbled intersecting rings, one lime green, the other teal, sitting above the word Interactionz and the tagline Building Better Lives, Together.
A marker pen and a scribbled purple oval sit above the word Visually (which is written in capital letters). Under the word it reads 'by Interactionz'. Two scribbled intersecting rings, one teal and the other lime green, are drawn between the words.

Diversifying Our Income

Having found these tools work equally well for organisations, businesses and corporates, in 2013 the Trust started providing facilitated PATH and MAP planning sessions to paying customers to diversify its income. In 2016, the Trust employed a Business Development Leader to focus on additional income streams.

As a community builder, we recognised that to build stronger communities faster, we could share our vision and methods with other organisations to have the greatest possible impact. Our Learning and Development service was created.

A rebrand was undertaken with an emphasis on social enterprise. Unfortunately, lack of consultation with stakeholders and consideration for Interactionz in its entirety resulted in the organisation drifting from its core purpose and vision.

Visually by Interactionz was launched to showcase our visualisation services under the social enterprise impact model.

The Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 brought about transformative changes for the organisation. Alongside the retirement of our long-serving Chief Executive, several key members of the leadership team decided to step down in order to advance important initiatives they had begun during their tenure at Interactionz. This period of significant transition presented an opportunity for the organisation to evolve and innovate in response to new challenges.

The Interactionz team identified a pressing issue: the organisation’s services had become siloed which was creating friction and uncertainty. As we navigated the pandemic, it became clear that to fulfil our long-standing vision of providing seamless services without barriers, we needed to engage in proactive discussions about the next steps.

Three people have a discussion. A large pencil draws a path across a lake and into a mountain. The pencil has a large red eraser on the top. The sun is rising behind the mountain. A koru encapsulates the scene.

Diversifying Our Impact

In early 2021, Interactionz’ team and board realised the organisation had an identity crisis and needed to return to its core – operating as a charity performing social enterprise activities, not operating as a social enterprise.

Interactionz developed a new vision, new values and a new purpose statement.

Interactionz was often mistaken for a dating agency due to the name, the tagline (Building Better Lives, Together) and the intersecting rings in the logo. It became obvious that we needed another rebrand.

We also wanted to reinstate our te reo Maaori name which had been lost at the last rebrand. And we wanted our brand to better reflect what we do.

Interactionz is a community builder. The name reflects the organisation’s focus on relationships. Interaction – connecting and communicating – is needed to begin, build and sustain a relationship. It is vital for building communities.

We constantly evolve and innovate to support people on their self-development or team journey.

Now we embrace our rich history as a foundation for our forward momentum. Our interconnected team and comprehensive services are dedicated to fostering positive lasting change across generations. We invite you to join us in making an impact through our initiatives in:

Together, we can create widespread community impact through every interaction.