Our Story
Our Vision
A full and fulfilling life for every individual
Our Mission
Enable adults with intellectual disabilities to actively engage in the full life of their community, through participation, contribution, and meaningful and respectful relationships with others.
Our Values
Community of Families: The Trust is a community of families. Our strength is achieved through the commitment of families to work together, to contribute and to take ownership and responsibility for the direction and quality of the service.
Responsiveness: We actively listen and respond with respect and understanding to those with whom we interact. We are open and adaptable to meet changing needs and circumstances.
Individual Focus: We aim to build a good life for each individual, through understanding and responding to every person’s qualities, interests and abilities.
Growth and Development: We strive for continual learning, increased knowledge and overcoming of limitations — for service users, staff and trustees.
Honour: We act with integrity, respect and fairness.
Sustainable: Through effective management we will provide a financially secure and well resourced organisation to ensure a stable and sustainable future for Thumbs Up.
How we began…
The Trust is a not-for-profit organisation based in Petone, Lower Hutt. It was founded in 2009 as a small independent charitable trust by a group of parents whose children were about to leave school but had nowhere to go.
Their vision was to create a full and fulfilling life for every individual person who uses the service by enabling adults with intellectual disabilities to actively engage in the full life of their community, through participation, contribution, and meaningful and respectful relationships with others.
How we operate…
At Thumbs Up we are committed to using the Enabling Good Lives approach to support the needs, aspirations and on-going development of people with intellectual and/or physical disabilities.
Thumbs Up does this by empowering all individuals to lead full and fulfilling lives by enabling them to have an equal opportunity to participate everyday activities and achieve their ambitions. We aim to support all our people and their whānau to have choice and control of how they live their lives. This approach makes it easier for people disabilities and their families to create good lives for themselves.
We do this by using a person-centered approach, enabling people to be part of their local community and actively participate in activities that they enjoy. Through this, our people learn and develop new skills, and build community and social connections which supports a sense of belonging.
Activities also help our people to contribute to their community in a meaningful and positive way, all while feeling valued and enjoying a sense of achievement from meeting new challenges.