My Wellington: It really is a village
Wednesday, 22 November 2023
Liz Langham is the ultimate multi-tasker. A social work supervisor — she established an early intervention (alcohol and other drugs) service in Whanganui — music therapist and mum of four, including twins, she was recently re-elected to the Tawa Community Board. The family of six live in Linden with six chickens and one indoor rabbit.
What part of Wellington do you live in, and why? We are blessed to be part of an amazing community in Tawa which really is “the village” that people talk about kids needing.
The best place to grab a coffee? A cheese scone? Being unable to eat gluten or dairy, I am sadly not best-placed to answer the classic cheese scone question. I do, however, love T Bay cafe in Porirua and Beach Babylon in town for their great range of dietary-friendly offerings, superb customer service and friendly vibes. The Urban Eatery is probably my favourite café in Tawa and I can highly recommend Coffee Joint, a great gluten-free coffee cart.
The suburb is synonymous with Ginette McDonald’s character “Lyn of Tawa”… For some people. While fun, her representation of Tawa is wildly inaccurate as far as I can tell! These days, we might be better known for our amazing community spirit, the annual Spring into Tawa street festival, or the epic “Tawa Goes to Town” music festivals in which people of all ages take to the Michael Fowler Centre to wow audiences with the combined talents and skills of our community.
You were involved in setting up Bedtime Stories, a programme where women prisoners read and record stories for their children and grandchildren. What drives you in your work?
As far back as I know, my ancestors were involved in teaching, hospitality, health and social care, community leadership, music and ministry. I grew up with parents who were teachers and, as the eldest of three girls, I think these factors have contributed to a lifetime of involvement in education and social work as we are all really passionate about social inequality and bringing beauty to challenging situations in our different ways.
Any hidden talents? I play flute with the Wellington City Orchestra, and ceilidh band, and have recently done a couple of gigs with Sam Manzanza. Keeping my musicality alive is an important part of my work as a music therapist.
Contentious issues in the community at the moment ... include the stench of the Spicer Landfill which negatively affects many of our residents. The lack of access to some of our public transport hubs is also an issue and there are the usual niggles such as traffic hold-ups due to various maintenance and repair work, and slow responses to fixing water leaks. We are also eagerly awaiting the redevelopment of Grenada North sports fields - it’s been too many winters of unplayable boggy grounds for our young northern suburbs sportspeople.