Meet the Team
Our team is made up of volunteers who represent a wide variety of ages, and experiences. Together they bring a combined passion to see healing and wholeness restored in community.
Our Story
During Bronwyn's study to become a qualified counsellor, she undertook a research paper on spirituality and its role of healing in the counselling profession (nationally and internationally). Whilst she discovered spirituality plays a significant role in the healing of the individual, there was very little combination of Christian spirituality and counselling being used in the profession.
Shortly after this discovery, Bronwyn and a colleague were invited to address the issue of anxiety using counselling methods and Christian spirituality at a local church. They spoke to young girls aged 12-14 years. The evening was successful and Bronwyn realised the significant need for practical application of both Christian spirituality and counselling tools to equip people in their personal journey to aid restoration. This ushered in a two-and-a-half-year process of writing the Building Strong Foundations course, combining Bronwyn's personal testimony of healing and restoration through her relationship with God, as well as learnings from her counselling degree.
Our Volunteers
We are blessed with wonderful volunteers who assist us in caring for participants and running our courses. Our team is intergenerational and made up of an entire immediate family (Bronwyn's parents and three sisters), and others who have joined us after attending BSF courses.
We also have a team of people who pray for the course each week from their homes. We are intentional about holding the value of manaakitanga for one another as a team, and we care for each other outside of the course as a whānau.
Key Staff
Bronwyn Sandford
Director / Counsellor / Facilitator
BCouns, MNZCCA
Bronwyn has been a couples and individuals counsellor since 2020 and has a Bachelor's degree in Counselling. Bronwyn provides training for the team and oversees the volunteers. Prior to this she worked for five years as Trust Administrator for The Mt Roskill Community Trust (Auckland), where she witnessed up close the struggles families have at generational level, that without intervention, become the next generation's reality. In addition, she has also had many years' experience volunteering in a local community where she was able to journey with people struggling with poverty and the layers of complexity that accompanies this.
Bronwyn has been married to Don since 1996; they have three grown children and enjoy the outdoors and being a part of the local community in Tauranga.
Jacki Van der Burg
Facilitator / Trust Administrator
Jacki brings to BSF her own life experience of journeying to transformation from a dark place of addiction and mental health struggles. Sober now for 21 years, she continues to experience restoration and healing from trauma. In 2019, Jacki became involved in a 12-step recovery programme based in Churches and on this journey, recognised she needed further support to process significant life events. Jacki was invited in 2022 to serve on the team of BSF. Through her own learnings from the course, she experienced significant healing in her relationship with God and self which is bringing more wholeness and taking her sense of wellbeing to new levels.
Prior to BSF, Jacki has served in roles including church administration, running her own business, and volunteering positions in the community. Jacki is mother to two adult children and a proud grandmother of three! She treasures time with her family who live in Auckland and overseas, and enjoys extended family living with her elderly parents and two sisters in Welcome Bay, Tauranga.
Jeanette Cole
Administration and Events Manager
Jeanette brings extensive administration experience to Building Strong Foundations, gained from working in both the corporate and tertiary education sectors. Jeanette oversees general and course administration through to branding (communications), creative production, and events management. Prior to joining BSF, she provided administrative support to colleagues and students in the School of Social Practice, Laidlaw College (Auckland). This included organising events both large and small, ranging from book launches through to conferences, both in-person and online.
Jeanette made the move from Auckland to Tauranga at the end of 2021, where she lives with whānau. She is passionate music and worship, and oversees the music component in BSF (leading and playing keys for some of the waiata, and creating / managing the BSF Spotify playlist). A self-professed coffee-addict, she loves cooking delicious food for whānau and friends to enjoy.