Hato Hone St John is proud to uphold te Reo Māori in our name
Over the past few years, we have been gradually adopting ‘Hato Hone’ in our name and logo. In fact, ‘Hato Hone’ has been written on the side of ambulance operations vehicles for around three years and in our email signatures. The Hato Hone St John logo has been in use across our website and social media channels for a year and the name and logo appears on many of our fleet, buildings and communication channels along with the Māori design elements that represent all who call Aotearoa home. It is all part of a bigger piece of mahi that complements the launch of our Manaaki Ora strategy this year.
Embracing our bicultural identity is part of our commitment to align our objectives and obligations as a health organisation to Te Tiriti ō Waitangi and to better connect with our communities in Aotearoa.
The name was not gifted by iwi – it is a literal translation of Saint John to Hato Hone. This has been guided by Hato Hone St John Kāhui Mauaka Maori Responsiveness Team, in consultation with iwi. It is not a formal name change but it is a shift to fully incorporate the translation of our name. In our journey to incorporating Hato Hone St John, our organisation has followed best practice set out by Te Puni Kōkiri Ministry of Māori Development Māori-English Bilingual Signage guidelines, which states that putting te Reo Māori first, and of equal weighting, is really important when authentically adopting bi-lingual signage and logos.
And, to ensure we are absolutely cost conscious in this approach, we are not retrospectively applying the new logo to existing buildings, vehicles, uniforms or materials. The name and logo will be applied to new items only. So effectively it has been a cost-neutral exercise for St John.
We respect and thank everyone who continue to support us. Together with our partners we look forward to connecting more deeply with our communities to make life changing differences.
Hato Hone is the literal translation of St John in te Reo Māori:
Hato – Saint
Hone – John
Please attribute to Hato Hone St John Chief Executive Peter Bradley