NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / New Zealand

Hastings Civic Honours Awards: Indian Mums' Group founder Sonam Bhandari recognised

Hawkes Bay Today
1 Aug, 2021 06:08 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Sonam Bhandari, founding member of the Indian Mums' Group, has won a Hastings Civic Honours Award. Photo / Warren Buckland

Sonam Bhandari, founding member of the Indian Mums' Group, has won a Hastings Civic Honours Award. Photo / Warren Buckland

Sonam Bhandari knows it takes a village to raise a child, and a little bit of coffee too.

Now the Hastings mother, who started the Indian Mums' Group to connect people over culture and a bean brew, has been recognised for her efforts.

Bhandari is one of 11 recipients of the Hastings Civic Honours Awards for her volunteer efforts in the community, most notably through the Plunket group she helped found in 2014.

Bhandari moved to Hawke's Bay in 2011 with her husband Dan Singh. With the arrival of their first child Anusha Rana in 2014, the Indian Mums' Group was born.

The group was established to help mums of Indian origin to find support and connection within the Hawke's Bay community.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"It started with just three of us and we're still best friends now. The group is a place where mums can just be ourselves, share our stories and support each other."

Sonam Bhandari with her Indian Mums' Group that she helped found in 2014. Photo / Supplied
Sonam Bhandari with her Indian Mums' Group that she helped found in 2014. Photo / Supplied

For Bhandari this was important given her recent arrival in the region and lack of a support network and sense of family.

She sees the group as enabling Indian mums "to look after each other in a way like back home".

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"In India we live in big families and big neighbourhoods. As the saying goes, it takes a village to raise a child."

Through the group, Bhandari has created a space of connection to community and to culture, helping other Indian mums to feel a sense of place and family when estranged from home.

Discover more

Kahu

Rotorua and Taupō to receive kaupapa Māori mental health service

29 Jul 08:13 PM
New Zealand

The young woman who chose hospo over a law scholarship

29 Jul 03:38 AM
Education

School builds get $16.5 million top-up

29 Jul 03:05 AM

"We are like a family now; we connect on a family basis. All of our kids know each other. I would love for everyone else to have these kinds of friendships."

She said the connections established through the group embolden mums to socialise within their community.

As Bhandari explains: "Women in the Indian community can be shy and not want to go out. We are often told to be housewives and mothers first, that our responsibilities lie in the home."

The group has engaged its mums in a variety of events outside the home, from the celebration of Indian festivals to hosting guest speakers, while maintaining regular coffee catchups every Tuesday at the Heretaunga Women's Centre.

On top of these contributions, Bhandari is also working towards establishing a Hindu space of worship in the Hawke's Bay community.

She believes that through creating these spaces of belonging in the community we can work towards social cohesion in Aotearoa/New Zealand.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Despite all of her efforts, Bhandari was "taken aback" by her nomination for the award.

"It's my first individual award ever. I was in denial. I was like why would I get an award? I've only be doing it for around seven years and there's so much more that I really want to do."

"However, it makes it feel like home when your community is celebrating you."

As Hastings Mayor Sandra Hazlehurst remarked: "They don't ask for recognition, so these awards given out on behalf of the Hastings district are a way to ensure their efforts don't go unnoticed."

Other recipients of the Civic Awards were the Rotary Club of Stortford Lodge, the Multicultural Association Hawke's Bay and the Tauroa Reserve Care Group, Cynthia Bowers, Corrie Hughes, Richard Moorhead, Shimul Islam, Judith Burkin and Garry Dockary.

Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Latest from New Zealand

New Zealand

Notorious former Christchurch sex industry kingpin dies

02 Jul 08:40 PM
live
New Zealand

Fibre outage and evacuations top of South Island, Auck Harbour Bridge hit by high winds

02 Jul 08:39 PM
New ZealandUpdated

Armed police block Rotorua street

02 Jul 08:17 PM

There’s more to Hawai‘i than beaches and buffets – here’s how to see it differently

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from New Zealand

Notorious former Christchurch sex industry kingpin dies

Notorious former Christchurch sex industry kingpin dies

02 Jul 08:40 PM

Terry Rex Brown, ex-brothel owner, died from health issues this week.

Fibre outage and evacuations top of South Island, Auck Harbour Bridge hit by high winds
live

Fibre outage and evacuations top of South Island, Auck Harbour Bridge hit by high winds

02 Jul 08:39 PM
Armed police block Rotorua street

Armed police block Rotorua street

02 Jul 08:17 PM
Sean 'Diddy' Combs acquitted of sex trafficking, convicted on lesser charge

Sean 'Diddy' Combs acquitted of sex trafficking, convicted on lesser charge

From early mornings to easy living
sponsored

From early mornings to easy living

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP