Lots of Little Fires Update - July 2025
The past two months have been busy in the Lots of Little Fires kaupapa. The final edit of ‘The Serve’ story was successfully released to a wonderful reception.
You can see The Serve’s story here: https://youtu.be/O3yj4GbvdEw
It is a story we are really proud of and we thank Murdoch Daly, our videographer extraordinaire, for once again capturing and editing the magic which reflects the beauty and heart of the people who give so much of themselves to the service of others. We also thank Mareta Matenga, Paula Ormsby and Natasha Willison-Reardon for trusting us and welcoming us into your space and whānau to capture and share your story… You are amazing!
With the video now with the trustees, we hope it will help them with their search for new premises to operate from so that they can prepare, cook for and serve a hot sit down evening meal every day of the year for our street whānau and those who are struggling to make ends meet to feed themselves and their families. The Story has been used to help connect The Serve Trust with the Waikato Wellbeing Project who have started the process of developing a business plan to increase the support available to the Trustees in their search for a new home to continue their mahi. Collaboration and connection for real within community.
Following the filming of the Story, Joe Wilson joined the Serve Trustees at the Hamilton City Council Submission on the bylaws and heated conversation around the increasing levels of homelessness in Garden Place and Hamilton generally. By speaking up and standing alongside The Serve, Lots of Little Fires was able to provide a wider, unified and collective voice in support of their work and to advocate for the rights of the homeless and street community. We continue to advocate for, connect with and collaborate with the Serve team through the long slow road of systems change and innovation that the Social Housing and homeless community support services navigate and deal with daily.
If anyone has any questions around The Serve and would like to find out ways they can support them, please do not hesitate to contact us here and we can connect you with the trustees.
The next release for Lots of Little Fires will be in mid-August and will be Sam Troth's story. This is almost now ready for the edit with Murdoch and we look forward to getting this inspiring and incredibly important story and message out.
