Bruce McLaren Village is in pole position

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Just as the McLaren team has been dominating the 2025 Formula 1 season, the Ryman village that shares the name has had an incredible year of wins too!

The latest accolade was Bruce McLaren Village being named a finalist for aged care in the Large North Island category of the 2025 Seniors New Zealand Awards (formerly known as Aged Advisor People’s Choice Awards).

Entry into these awards was based on positive online reviews submitted during the past 12 months, with only those with a 90% weighted average score or higher making the list.

This means that Bruce McLaren Village is recognised as being in the top 5% of providers across the country.

General Manager of Seniors New Zealand, Tania Ryan, said: “The voices of New Zealand seniors and their families have spoken!

“These awards aren’t decided in the boardroom – they’re based on the lived experiences of residents and families. That’s what makes them so meaningful.”

The news coincided with the team passing both their Retirement Village Association (RVA) audit for retirement living and Health New Zealand certification audit for care with flying colours.

Village Manager Chantelle Hand was over the moon.

“It’s our year!” said Chantelle, who said the whole village was ‘just buzzing’. “It’s such an amazing achievement and it’s all down to our wonderful team.”

Chantelle said the team had been riding a high since celebrating the village’s 10^th birthday at the end of 2024, but things had really shifted into high gear for 2025.

Back in May, Bruce McLaren won Ryman’s Village of the Year award in the 2025 Ryman awards.

The in-house recognition saw the Howick village stand out from all of Ryman’s 49 villages in New Zealand and Australia on a range of different metrics.

These included clinical quality indicators, team engagement at the village and feedback from residents and their families.

Ryman’s Chief Operating Officer Marsha Cadman said at the time that the team had built up a strong reputation for care and connection in Howick and its surrounding suburbs over the past decade.

“The exceptional resident satisfaction and high clinical standards all reflect the strength of the close-knit, high-performing team behind it all,” she said.

Chantelle said the success came from a massive effort put in by every member of the 170-strong village team.

“It’s all of their efforts added up that ensures life at Bruce McLaren Village truly is ‘good enough for mum and dad,” she said.