My name is Craig Hickford. I am the creator and currently the Operations Lead for Thrive and a part time relief teacher and a full time Husband and Dad.
Thrive was developed in 2023, ironically I was visiting a nearby office and having an awareness of The Braintree through social media, I was simply intrigued by this place. Upon entering the door I was greeted and made to feel respected and welcome and I guess my passion and need to inquire was evident.
I was involved in a Car vs Cycle accident on February 14 2016 in Fairfield Dunedin where we were living at the time and I was the Principal at Brockville School. I was admitted to Dunedin Hospital with a GCS of 2 with a very low chance of survival, After a lot of therapy and time, after 6 months I was allowed home.
As a result of this I now live with a severe Traumatic Brain Injury and I am daily trying to navigate life with the assistance of my lovely wife Stacey and my two children, Grace (17) and Toby (14).
As a teacher with a Bachelor of the Arts majoring in Psychology and Social Anthropology I was innately interested in my new predicament of living with a Traumatic Brain injury and found an innate connection to help develop this new community I was now part of.
I was a National League Basketball player for 12 years in New Plymouth, Palmerston North and Canterbury and have coached at the elite women's WNBL and men's level NBL in New Zealand. I have also spent the last 3 years as an assistant coach for the Canterbury Rams and have coached my kids in various teams as they have naturally shown an interest in basketball.
I go back into the classroom as a reliever as I still enjoy teaching young people. I sometimes think I may be able to go back to a level of leadership but the sheer time I would need to commit would make it not manageable.
In 2023 with the assistance of Aspire Canterbury I initiated and created Thrive as initially a speaker series which is now called Thrive Connect. Thrive has grown and it now has Thrive Chat, Thrive Active and Thrive Media as 3 active components. I am the Operations Lead and I am enjoying the innovation and creativity I am able to bring to Thrive.
In mid 2025 Brian Gilchrist who leads the Step Ahead Trust proposed to me that he could set up Thrive in a trust. This was something that was beyond my level of expertise but I have worked closely beside Bryan as Thrive Aotearoa Charitable Trust was established to enable Thrive to grow sustainably and for it to realise its potential.
I hold the position as the Operations Lead for Thrive and have a jar full of concepts and ideas although I have been told very politely to take buddha steps, do what you do very well instead of doing a lot poorly.
