Northern Hospice Alliance’s Clinical Services Manager Jenny Matthews didn’t plan her fast track career when she emigrated to New Zealand in 2011 with her husband Jeff and 16 year old son Chris*. The opportunities just kept presenting themselves and she couldn’t say no.
The family came to Auckland with some trepidation. They were leaving behind close friends, and a tight-knit family. Jeff left a successful business and Jenny a job she loved at Greenwich and Bexley Community Hospice.
The couple enticed Chris with the promise that he could complete his schooling here and return to the UK to go to University. Within six months of being here, thought, Chris had changed his mind and decided he wanted to attend the University of Auckland’s internationally renowned engineering school.
The family all quickly made great friends, settled into life and discovered the many opportunities that existed for them here. “We went from living in the outskirts of London to 100 metres from the beach,” says Jenny. “The lifestyle is just fantastic.”
“We’re minutes from several lovely beaches and just four hours from a ski field in winter. I pass two beaches on my drive to work and in summer I run home along the coast twice a week.”
The environment and subtropical climate has seen Jenny take up outdoor activities like running (she has participated in five half-marathons in the last three years), stand up paddle-boarding, kayaking and sailing, while her flexible working arrangement allows her time to pursue new interests like pottery and stained glass window making.
Jenny also cites the relaxed and friendly atmosphere as a significant plus. “Walking down the beach in the morning, strangers smile and say ‘hello’,” she says. “It sounds simple, but it makes all the difference.”
On summer evenings Jenny and Jeff love to sit at the top of North Head in Devonport, eating freshly cooked fish and chips and drinking a bottle of New Zealand Pinot Gris or craft beer; watching the yachts coming in from their races.
As for the work; Jenny’s career has rapidly progressed from her initial role at Hospice North Shore in quality to taking responsibility for the clinical management of three Hospices in the Northern Hospice Alliance.
“There are huge career and personal development opportunities here for nurses with specialist palliative care and leadership skills,” says Jenny. “If you come here via the nursing route your progress could well be even quicker.”
*Daughter Jessica 18 wasn’t able to come with the family, due to delays obtaining visas and her need to start university in the UK. The family resolved this by catching up every holiday; with Jessica either coming ‘home’ (her words) to stay in NZ or the three returning to spend time with her in the UK.
Jessica loved her time at University but rejoined the family in New Zealand as soon as she completed her studies. She has met her partner here. They have bought a house in Wellington and are planning to marry in February 2018.
