[Midgey]

Hi

Well here goes I my OH and three chidren are considering emmigrating to NZ.My inlaws moved there in 1996 and are now happily NZ Citizens in Franklyn District North Island. They love NZ and would never return to England. My OH and the kids visited for a Holiday/Recce in 2006 and also where suitably impressed.We have looked into it and know its not going to be easy and have also looked at forums at good/bad etc to get a wider prospective.

Reasons for wanting to leave the UK, England perhaps more than Scotland can best be descibed a a complete "toilet" a yob culture exists with sleazy politicians, a George Orwell 1984 culture in existence already with CCTV everywhere, overcrowding, horrendous consumerism and materialism which we don't susbcribe to. Ageism is awful here and anyone passed 45 is at serious risk of never working in a career again as the country is obsessed with youth. House Prices are ridiculous with little affordable alternatives and the country is just a service industry with now no traditional Industrial base anymore. I don't recognise the UK from my childhood of the 60's and 70's and like my inlaws want a better quality of life for I and more importantly my childrens away from the culture of Playstation, and Anti-Social Behaviour etc.

Thats where I come in our life here is now an utter mess my career sadly has gone,for now, I was made redundant in 2006 and now at 46 I face a series of Temping work for the forseeable future as some employers see me as now too old ,or Managers half my age feel threatened by my skills and experience and work ethic.

Sadly we don't qualify under the normal rules ie reserved occupation,
skill shortage etc so would have to come over on the basis of a holiday and then seek a work permit and attempt to obtain work with a view to staying and then selling up back here. Their is obviously a massive risk and probably a period when I will be separated from my family, although I will at least have the help of my inlaws which perhaps others would not. We are fortunate to have some savings to help us live in the short term in NZ, but most of our money is tied up in property which would have to be released before we could buy there.

What we are looking for is a new quality of life, none of us are particularly materialistic, we don't crave for the latest Plasma TV, Designer Clothes, or latest badge on the Car, perhaps thats why we feel out of place in the "must have at any cost society" of the UK today.We are looking for a more relaxed way of life, more fresh air/outdoor pursuits, to some extent we have that as we live in semi rural Staffordshire, and a more understated way of life, where experiences and people are more important than material objects. We are not looking for Utopia and I don't think even NZ fits into that as like most countries it has its problems, perhaps lesser than the UK.

We are all fairly flexible and willing to adapt to new surroundings, although the thought of turning my life upside down fills me with fear and excitement in equal portions, however my life has already been turned inside out from the events of redundancy in 2006.

So as indicated prevously what we/I am considering doing is coming over and searching for work, perhaps renting our house out here in the UK, to later sell,or the Family bar me returning after a month with me staying with my inlaws.

What I need to know is am I mad on contemplating such a venture, but if not seriously I would need to know when's the best time to come, whose the best people to approach for work,should we sell up beforehand,( we have no mortgage, pure profit after expenses ). One things for sure at this juncture The North Island and being near to my in-laws due the need for their help will be the starting point.

Opinions good, bad indifferent will be most appeciated.

Don't be frightened to speak you mind

Best Wishes

Warren:nice1 :nice1 :nice1

[gil]

Warren,
Wellcome to the forum and thank you for a fabulously honest and balanced first post. I'm haring around getting myself/kids ready for school and work (other way round!) right now, so I'll post more fully later. Just wanted to say that in our experience, us "older" people don't seem to have too much trouible finding work here. A friend of ours commented that in UK he would be considered "over the hill" whereas here, he won "Employee of the Year" after his first year's work (last year, that was). Another friend (non-forum) has had a complete change of career here (he's 57) and now does web design and bits and bobs for local charitable organisations and my hubby (now 47) has also changed career. Here in Auckland there is almost full employment, so you you have to go some fail to get work!

Good luck,

Gil

[JandM]

Hello, Warren.:) We're not in NZ yet, but are the parents of someone who's done the deal.

I'm sure you'll get lots of comments in answer to your questions in due course. Don't forget it's early morning over there at the moment, so it might not happen right away.

Sympathy on the redundancy - it happened to me, too. There IS life after, wherever you make it, but it doesn't half kick you in teeth at first.

[victoria]

Hi & welcome. We came over last year. My OH is on the skills list & we are both at that "old enough to know better age". It mattered not a bit in NZ. They see the person only.In fact OH's employer was boasting how he had a Brit on the books! If you want to work in NZ, the general feeling I've come across is YES!! To sum it up, we actually matter over here.
I'm curious as to what your job experience is. Would you care to share this with us?
Best wishes as you gather the facts in helping you make a decision.

[NZ Hopeful]

Welcome Warren, were not there yet either but wish you all the luck in getting there! :)

[benandclare]

Welcome along Warren.

Clare and I are in the wrong end of 40's :D and have had no problems adapting to NZ life and work and from your post and the support of your in laws you'll have no problem too, well ok the process of navigating NZIS might stress you out at times :nice1

Go for it, "we do but pass this way but once "


Ben

[Carol]

Hi Warren...


So what's a "Plasma"??

:nice1:nice1:nice1:laugh
Just get yourself here mate!

[Midgey]

Hi & welcome. We came over last year. My OH is on the skills list & we are both at that "old enough to know better age". It mattered not a bit in NZ. They see the person only.In fact OH's employer was boasting how he had a Brit on the books! If you want to work in NZ, the general feeling I've come across is YES!! To sum it up, we actually matter over here.
I'm curious as to what your job experience is. Would you care to share this with us?
Best wishes as you gather the facts in helping you make a decision.

Well I spent 15 years working for the Citizens Advice Bureau (CABx)as a Specialist Caseworker in Money Advice and Welfare Benefits in addition to working in a Legal Practice as a Para Legal/Legal Executive amongs other things. I was also a CABx Manager for over 4 years. More recently I have worked as an Anti-Social Behaviour Officer/Community Safety Officer in Local Government so I have strong links with the Police. I also undertake Voluntary work as a Support/Caseworker for Victim Support.Thus I have worked directly in local communities with people often in difficult and stressful situations since 1991.I also have Court Advocacy skills. I loved my role as an ASB Officer some aspects were similar to a Police Offcer but also gave me the scope to help young people at the serious risk of offending and helping them to steer clear of crime.I'd love to carry on working in this field or similar where you can make a difference to peoples lives. However I am flexible and adaptable so will try most things, which sadly employers here believe as I am over 40 I won't fit into their young team. We have new laws about ageism here but they simply are not working.The influx of all and sundry from europe hasn't helped either.

The other thing is we don't really have the family ties here as mine are quite a distance from us and we aren't close so theirs no real heartstrings keeping us here. My OH would love to be with her Mom & Dad and it goes without saying they would love to have their grandchildren closer to them. WE communicate by email,MSN and phone often so we get to here the latest from NZ. I am also partial to a wee bit of Rugby although more of a football (soccer) fan having played the game here. I am aware the Rugby is to NZ as Catholocism is to Ireland. LOL

Nice to here from you look forward to some more.


Hope this helps

Warren

[peebles16]

Welcome from us too :D
Am sure with your skills you should pick up a job easily even though not on skills shortage list. I've seen lots of voluntary agencies looking for service co-ordinators, support service managers, mediation and advocacy services etc so you'll be grand. I also understand that there are community projects etc to tackle anti-social behaviour but not sure how widespread or how well funded they are.

Best of luck
Karen

[gpbenton]

Hi

What I need to know is am I mad on contemplating such a venture, but if not seriously I would need to know when's the best time to come, whose the best people to approach for work,should we sell up beforehand,( we have no mortgage, pure profit after expenses ). One things for sure at this juncture The North Island and being near to my in-laws due the need for their help will be the starting point.


No, I don't think you are mad. You have decided what you don't like about your current situation and have found a place that seems like an improvement. From what you say, I think you will find that New Zealand suits you.

The only question is how much you are prepared to gamble about finding work. I don't think your age is a factor - I haven't heard any complaints about age-ism over here, but I can't really help in your line of work.

Definitely do not arrive in January. Most of New Zealand is on holiday that month, but other than that I don't know of any better time to start looking.

Good luck in whatever you decide.

[Paul & Rach]

I strongly recommend you sell your house before you leave especially if you have a mortgage. We made this mistake and it cost us huge. I ended up funding over a years worth of mortgage in the UK (including council tax etc) and then had to sell at a cut price. The result was we ended up with 45% less money here than we thought we'd when we left. its screwed us up proper and I just dont know how we'll afford a house here now.

Dont be too keen to jump. Do it right. Sell up first.

[Nick88]

I agree with Paul & Rach, we left a house thinking it had been sold and had to stump up 6 months' mortgage until it finally did go. Not having a house to go back to is not as big a deal as you might think, you can always rent (plus property prices are not going up any more, so you will not lose anything). The flexibility this will give you is worth it.

I have every sympathy for your reasons to leave. I am probably one of the most negative posters on this forum, but I think your life will improve 100% when you settle here.

Have you considered applying to be a probation officer?

[dilanium]

I can't give you any advice, but I'd like to say welcome to the forum and good luck with whatever you decide.

[dusk]

hello.

could your inlaws not sponsor you under the family visa whatsit? (could I be more vague? :roll )

[Midgey]

Hi Everyone,

Well perhaps my discription of England being a "toilet" was a bit harsh, but it certainly could do with a dose of Domestos. I think some folk have got a wee bit stuck on that comment which is fair enough, I was honest and i asked people to be the same. Yes England perhaps isn't that bad but it has changed markedly in the last 10 years and in the main not for the better, which as someone born and bred here is very sad. Where I live is probably quite nice compared to some other parts and crime is relatively low, however I originate form a large city and have worked for many years in the inner cities and some of the most deprived areas of the West Midlands in recent times. My previous occupations brought me into contact with some very challenging individuals and in general their is a decline in moral standards and respect for others in the UK. Yes it varies and having been seconded o the North West for a short while I could see it was even worse there than here in the Midlands. The general problem of Anti Social Behaviour, binge drinking by and large is an English disease, Europe just dosen't have some of these issues. The UK is not a major Industrial base anymore and the levels of bureacracy have swelled over the last decade rather than declined. Yes the UK is still an okay place to be compared to a great deal of other countries some very close to these shores, although their are still vast differences between parts of the UK, to some extent the North/South divide is still with us, here in the Midlands we are caught between the two .

But the point for I and my family is we want something different now which Ii don't feel these Isle's can offer.I am very worried about my childrens future here, and their future prospects. The standards of education is okay but their is too much red tape and a lack of discipline in schools although the schools my kids attend are pretty okay.

Whilst I am pretty fed up with my lot here I still recognise the good things about the UK and will be sad to some extent to leave, however I will also want to be able to look back fondly to the old country, whch has given us so much.

I am the sought of person who would come to NZ and embrace the country attempting to leave my Englishness behind me, as an Australian said to a friend of mine who was considering moving to AUS, as long as you leave your English attitude in England you will be fine here.

I recognise we have some issues to resolve here before we can make that leap to Kiwiland but we will be working on them over the next couple of months.

As indicated in the latter part of my original post we are inviting advice and opinions to help us get a varied prospective towards our decsion process in addition to all the research we are undertaking. This will obviously at least help us to prepare as much as we can before we get there of what to expect, I know its not the same but as they say "knowledge is power".

As i said before keep the info coming and the dialogue, I hope I haven't offended anyone and have now put the record straight about blighty.
and no I don't thinkNZ is a paradise and the "grass is greener" etc, I anticipate and have read about some of its problems which are similar to the UK.

Take Care and keep the communication coming

Warren

:cheers

[Paul]

Hi Everyone,

Well perhaps my discription of England being a "toilet" was a bit harsh, but it certainly could do with a dose of Domestos. I think some folk have got a wee bit stuck on that comment which is fair enough, I was honest and i asked people to be the same. Yes England perhaps isn't that bad but it has changed markedly in the last 10 years and in the main not for the better, which as someone born and bred here is very sad. Where I live is probably quite nice compared to some other parts and crime is relatively low, however I originate form a large city and have worked for many years in the inner cities and some of the most deprived areas of the West Midlands in recent times. My previous occupations brought me into contact with some very challenging individuals and in general their is a decline in moral standards and respect for others in the UK. Yes it varies and having been seconded o the North West for a short while I could see it was even worse there than here in the Midlands. The general problem of Anti Social Behaviour, binge drinking by and large is an English disease, Europe just dosen't have some of these issues. The UK is not a major Industrial base anymore and the levels of bureacracy have swelled over the last decade rather than declined. Yes the UK is still an okay place to be compared to a great deal of other countries some very close to these shores, although their are still vast differences between parts of the UK, to some extent the North/South divide is still with us, here in the Midlands we are caught between the two .

But the point for I and my family is we want something different now which Ii don't feel these Isle's can offer.I am very worried about my childrens future here, and their future prospects. The standards of education is okay but their is too much red tape and a lack of discipline in schools although the schools my kids attend are pretty okay.

Whilst I am pretty fed up with my lot here I still recognise the good things about the UK and will be sad to some extent to leave, however I will also want to be able to look back fondly to the old country, whch has given us so much.

I am the sought of person who would come to NZ and embrace the country attempting to leave my Englishness behind me, as an Australian said to a friend of mine who was considering moving to AUS, as long as you leave your English attitude in England you will be fine here.

I recognise we have some issues to resolve here before we can make that leap to Kiwiland but we will be working on them over the next couple of months.

As indicated in the latter part of my original post we are inviting advice and opinions to help us get a varied prospective towards our decsion process in addition to all the research we are undertaking. This will obviously at least help us to prepare as much as we can before we get there of what to expect, I know its not the same but as they say "knowledge is power".

As i said before keep the info coming and the dialogue, I hope I haven't offended anyone and have now put the record straight about blighty.
and no I don't thinkNZ is a paradise and the "grass is greener" etc, I anticipate and have read about some of its problems which are similar to the UK.

Take Care and keep the communication coming

Warren

:cheers

Not in a position to offer practical advice but I reckon you'll do just fine with that attitude to the move. Time for a new challenge and a change rather than get out at all costs, seems to me to be a far better way of approaching a life changing decision

On the property front I believe you do actually say you have no mortgage so not sure whether others views on keeping the property would change, as obviously you could rent out for pure profit and if jointly owned, use your Uk personal allowances to get most of the income UK tax free (assuming rent was roughly no more than say £900 a month. Having no mortgage does take away the immediate worry of rushing to find tenants and keeping it occupied

If you rented your place out at that sort of level (my guess of course may be totally off the mark) that translated into $ would give you something like $500 + a week for rent in NZ (depending on NZ taxation of the Uk income?) Depending on where you end up settling that could give a nice "rent free" start to your new life until you decide you like it and then sell up and buy in NZ after a period?? Just an idea

Best of luck, admire your (potential) decision to give it a go. The UK's loss and NZ gain again it seems as so often these days!

[Jennispink]

Hi warren,

What a brilliant poster you are. I think reading between the lines you may have already made the decision in your heart. Whenever we are in that sort of situation but can't admit it to ourselves, we toss a coin. Sounds daft?

If the decision goes the "wrong" way you'll know because you'll be really cross that it landed wrong.

I'm not saying make you're decision this way but I think it helps to confirm your hunches.

Whatever you decide, good luck, chin up and use and abuse all resources you can:D

[Red Devil]

... great couple of posts and I like your direct approach on things, none of this waffling malarkey that I tend to type :D

Just want to say that your reasons for departing the UK are identical to us... our priority is to get settled in a country that we feel happy and safe living in and for our 5 year old son to enjoy life to the max... something we can't see happening in the UK based on the way things have changed in the last 5 years and believe me, it's going to get worse in the next 5!!!

There's an interesting post going on at the moment, with regards folk wishing to leave the UK pronto, find work in NZ and sort out visas whilst there... doesn't surprise me at all how many people are keen to get away from the UK asap.
We're fortunate that we live in an affluent part of the UK, Cheshire. Only 5 miles down the road from us in Alderley Edge & Wilmslow (ex. Beckham territory) you still get the anti-social behaviour and everything else that goes with it, granted not as bad as the outer suburbs of Manchester but the point I'm making is that it's appearing almost across the country, irrespective of where you live.

Look forward to reading more of your posts.

Good luck with everything :nice1

[Midgey]

Yes I no what you mean I was actually seconded to the ASB Unit of Manchester City Council/Greater Manchester Police for a couple of weeks in 2005.The ASB issues where pretty bad compared to Walsall and Brum where I was working and although the Police and Local Authority where pretty affective there, we could have done with a certain DCI Gene HUNT (Life on Mars/Ashes to Ashes) to help us out. On a wider prospective I agree the UK's future dosen't look good at the moment and yes it is going to get worse before it gets better. The real problem for me is my childrens future, security, job prospects being able to buy their own home etc, and the general overcrowding.Its very sad because as most have said the UK with its liberal values and multicultural society and wonderful scenary has so much to offer,although we have a government that seems to be so far off pat and full of spin its untrue, just look at the way they have handled the Northern Rock collapse over the last 6 months.

It really is I have said before about us wanting something different and to try someting different away from the rut weappear to be stuck in. What I don't want to do is do this just because things aren't working for us here right now thats why we are trying to work through them resolve some issues then make a final decision and cut off date when we say okay we haveresolved all we can and want to and now is time to focus on a new life in NZ.

My inlaws have never looked back they went for PR as soons as they could and citizenship pretty much thereafter servering all ties with he UK. My father in law gave up a reasonably senior well paid position at Jaguar and now manages a small printing firm. They love it and have recently builtt their own home in the Papakura.He misses his Football and beloved Birmingham City as I would but hey he has Sky and is partial like me also to Rugby, you just adapt take on new challenges and in all honesty its rapidly becoming a very small world thanks the wonderful Internet, so if you wnted youcould stilllink back and keep in touch as you develop a ne:) w life and different interests.

Regards

Warren

[Midgey]

Sorry about the spelling darn Laptop keys smaller then the main PC, well hat my excuse anyway.

Warren

[Red Devil]

... tat's no exkuse, I'm knott fouling four tat one ;) :D

[Midgey]

OK its the cheap spell checker I got from china then rofl