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PROUDLY BY:SPONSORED TUI JOINT VENTURE PARTNERS

www.bigbrothersbigsisters.org.nz

New Plymouth - Ph(Also operating in Waitara, Inglewood, Stratford & Hawera)

: 06 759 8854

“We gratefully acknowledge our Principal Sponsors, who have been instrumental in enabling us to positively impact on children’s lives and empowering them to achieve in the future. However, this does not include all of the many community partners and generous supporters of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Taranaki that we

have at a more local level, but we are no less grateful to them for their generosity and support”.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Taranaki Events:Mon11 June 2012 Stratford Monthly Meet, 7.00pm, Stratford Community House, Juliet Street, Stratford. Tues 12 June 2012 New Plymouth Bi-Monthly Meet, 7.00pm at the Tasman Club, Octavius Place, New Plymouth.Sat 30 June 2012 Ten Pin Bowling & Pizza, 11.00am to 1.00pm - don’t forget to bring your socks and wear your Big

Brothers Big Sisters t-shirt!Wed 11 July 2012 South Taranaki Kindergarten Association present Nathan Mikaere-Wallis from The Brainwave Trust.

7.30pm to 9.30pm, $20 per person, venue to be confirmed. Tues 31 July 2012 Mentor & Partners Evening with our guest speaker Principal Youth Court Judge, His Honour Judge

Andrew Becroft. Legends Lounge, Yarrow Stadium, time to be confirmed.

Taranaki Events:WelcomeWelcome MAY 2012

This Space is Available for Sponsorship - Do you know of any businesses that may be interested?

Contact Paul Lampe on 759 8854 for more details

utumn has arrived - the leaves are starting to turn and the days are getting shorter. It’s a great time to pop down to the Tasman Club to check out the activities there, or wrap up warmly and go for a bike ride along Aour beautiful walkway.

Tupare Garden Photography Workshop, Sun 13 May 2012, from 9.15am - 11.30am at Tupare Garden, 487 Mangorei Road, New Plymouth. Bring your cameras and have a go at some garden photography at a workshop led by the New Plymouth Photography Club. See if you can capture your impression of Tupare with its Arts and Crafts architecture, intimate garden rooms and stunning vistas. FREE Event. Contact Georgie Williams, Taranaki Regional Council on 0800 736 222 for more info.

NZ Music Month: The Little School of Rock presents The Magnificent Sombreros! Sun 13 May 2012 from 2.00pm - 3.00pm at Puke Ariki. Get rockin' with The Magnificent Sombreros! Guaranteed to get big and tiny toes tapping with their special mix of songs. A very family friendly event and a great chance to boogie on down with the kids!

Family Challenge Day, Sun May 13, 2012 from 11:00am to 2:00pm. A FREE afternoon of family fun at the TSB Hub, Waihi Road, Hawera. Children must be accompanied by an adult family member. Free face painting, sausages, prizes. Challenges, Fire Service, Police, activities, Ki i Rahi, BPW. Organised by: Taranaki Safe Families Collaborative. Taranaki - Where Family Violence Is Not OK!

NZ Music Month: Gumboot Tango, Sat 19 May 2012 from 2.00pm - 3.00pm at Puke Ariki, New Plymouth. Gumboot Tango celebrate New Zealand songs and songwriters with a farmyard-infectious humour guaranteed to put a smile on your feet and the swing back in a Taranaki gate. Gumboot Tango present songs that tell something of New Zealand's special heritage, from the daggy and quirky, through classic Kiwi pop and rock, to original songs, some written by the late Alan Muggeridge.

NZ Music Month Rock Out Workshop, Wed 23 May 2012 from 6.00pm-8.00pm, Main Exhibition Gallery, Puke Ariki, New Plymouth. Join the West Coast School of Rock to discover the rock god inside you! Try out different instruments, have a go in front of the mic and practise playing a real guitar! FREE event. Contact Puke Ariki on 759 6060. Coastal Birdtrackers, Sun 27 May 2012 from 9.00am - 10.30am, Puke Ariki, New Plymouth. Get tracking with educator Nathan Hills out on the sand! Find out what our feathered friends are up to and some fascinating facts about the wildlife that live on our coastlines. Meet at Breakwater Bay (next to the Bach on Breakwater cafe). Bookings are essential - call 06 7596060. This is a Mounga Ki Te Moana Community Event, which is family friendly and caters for intergenerational learning. Offered in partnership with the Taranaki Regional Council.Pukeiti Explorer Day, Sun 03 Jun 2012, from 10.30am – 2.00pm at Pukeiti Gardens, New Plymouth. Bring the kids for games and activities around Arbor Day. A day in the garden with activities celebrating Arbor Day. FREE Event. Contact Georgie Williams 0800 736 222.

Stratford UpdateStratford Big Brothers Big Sisters are growing steadily with three new matches this year, raising our numbers to 17! We have had three matches reach the 3 year mark and have another three coming up to the 4 year mark this year - what a great commitment! There are currently 17 children on the waiting list in Stratford so please keep your radar on for any possible new volunteers on this side of the mountain.Kareena and Jacki have been practising their rollerblading techniques. In this photo, neither of the two were able to move far from the fence but determination and a few skinned knees has led to a recent successful skate along the foreshore together. Great 'can do' attitude, showing that with practise, goals can be achieved.

Jenny with her little sister Paris enjoying Tawhiti Museum

4 Year Match AnniversaryIn April 2012, Margaret Butterworth and Stacey became the second Big Brothers Big Sisters match in Taranaki to celebrate their 4 year match anniversary, the first one being Bryan Benton and Jonathon. Many things change in the

match relationship as the young person grows older - their needs change especially, and so the relationship changes to meet that need. Relationships are always evolving, and it takes an experienced, skilled mentor that can support those changes - while still keeping the friendship strong. As part of recognising and celebrating this growing change, we decided that planting a tree together would be an everlasting way to celebrate the four year match day. Then, as the years progress that tree will be symbolic of the growth and change experienced by both the mentor and their little brother or sister. Tina Christmas and her team at New Plymouth District Council are very supportive of our idea - so much so that the Council have agreed to supply us with native trees plus our own space at Lake Rotomanu in Fitzroy to plant them. Stratford are looking to have a similar event locally for their matches as they reach the 4 year milestone. We plan to have our f i r s t t ree planting ‘ceremony’ within the next few months, when we will have a few other matches reaching this great milestone. It will be a very special event, and another first for us - we may even invite the media to attend!

Margaret and Stacey out celebrating their 4 year anniversary at the Auto Lodge.

Bryan and Jonathon

Margaret and Stacey

Start SomethingStart Something

Monthly MeetsStratford‘s next meeting is on Monday 11 June at 7.00pm, in the Stratford Community House, Juliet Street, Stratford. New Plymouth’s next bi-monthly meet is on Tuesday 12 June at 7.00pm, at the Tasman Club, Octavius Place, New Plymouth. Although these meetings are not compulsory, we do encourage you to attend. It’s a good place to share ideas and resources, and to meet your new fellow mentors.

Congratulations to our recent matchesCongratulations to our recent matches

Neil with his new little brother, Shaydin - CB, NP

Match ProfileTheresa and Leticia

Leticia and I have been matched for nearly two and a half years and it has been an amazing experience so far. I think of her as a mini me as we have a lot in common. We both have long brown hair, love to bake and enjoy crafts. From time to time when we are out in public she gets mistaken as my daughter. We always have a bit of a laugh when that happens. When I first met Tesh she was very shy and she found it hard to make decisions or speak her mind. As time has gone by her confidence has grown immensely. When we bump into people I know she no longer hides behind me and shuts down. Instead she proudly stands beside me and will happily chat to them. Tesh used to be quite uneasy around big groups of people, so over the past few years I have made a real effort to involve her in family gatherings and take her along to public events. This has really helped her, and she is so different now. Tesh is a real laugh and I feel like she lets me be a kid again. Every time I pick her up we have this on going

competition to see who can put their seatbelts on the fastest. Even my partner Jaidan plays when he joins us on outings from time to time. When we go to the park we often see who can swing the highest. She usually wins as she has no fear and I am often telling her I think she is getting too high. Everything we do somehow turns into a game of some sort. Last July, Jaidan and I became owners of a 12 month old retriever and it was love at first sight for Tesh. She absolutely adores Bacchus and always bolts out of the car and into the backyard to see him. She likes to take him for walks and play chase with him around the house and yard. She is quite happy to chill with the dog or take him out for an outing. She makes me laugh because she comes out with the funniest things sometimes. On our last outing we took Bacchus our golden retriever to Barrett Domain. I asked her if she wanted to head back to the car yet and she replied “Nope, I think I want to live here forever”. Her imagination then goes wild as she tells me all the things she could do if she lived by all the ducks and swans. My main highlight for being matched with Tesh is seeing how much she has grown as a person in the last two years. She has become a lot more confident and outgoing. She used to be a girl who didn't seem to have

many friends at school and now she has loads. She is now involved with many extracurricular activities in and out of school. This is awesome because when I first met her she didn't have the confidence to try anything new. As time has passed I have seen how caring Tesh is. While I went to Vietnam in 2010 for 5 weeks I used to send her postcards and she would write back. Having her put the effort in and be self motivated to write to me really shows that I am making a difference and I am an important person in her life. Lastly, another highlight that sticks out is that Tesh is now confident in the sea. As a seven year old I could not get her near the water and if I did she was in my arms! With perseverance and taking small steps she is now nine and a half and is like a fish in water and is happy to jump the waves and go body boarding. Having a friendship with Leticia has been a hugely rewarding experience for me - I just can’t imagine life without her! Theresa Gale-Mancer

Pam with her new little sister, Payton - CB, STFD Nonni with her new little sister, Kasey - CB, STFD

Nicole with her new little sister, Madison - CB, NP

QUOTE FOR THE MONTH:

"We're here for a reason. I believe a bit of the

reason is to throw little torches out

to lead people through the dark."

Whoopi Goldberg

Thank You...Special thanks to Mark Louis and Helen Alldridge,

owners of Our Place here in New Plymouth who recently donated $185 to Big Brothers Big Sisters. Mark asked for donations at the door during the Hurricanes v Sharks game on Easter Friday - what a ingenious idea to raise money! Guess it beats putting on a surcharge - maybe this could start a trend??

Also, a big thanks to Proformac Computers - who recently made a donation to us. We have been able to help a young person’s learning outcomes because of this donation. Brilliant! We are very grateful to these small business who make

BIG difference for our young people. THANK YOU!

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We are having a fun filled Ten Pin Bowling and Pizza event for all mentors and their little brother or sister on Sat 30 June 2012 from 11.00am to 1.00pm. This was a great hit with everyone last year, and is a great opportunity to have some food and fun for free! Please RSVP to Shannon by 22 June so we know how many pizza’s to order!Nathan Mikaere-Wallis from the Brainwave Trust will be speaking on Wednesday 11 July 2012 from 7.30pm to 9.30pm, tickets are $20 per person. (venue to be advised). His Honour Principal Youth Court Judge Andrew Becroft will be the guest speaker at our Mentor and Partner evening on the 31st of July 2012, at the Legends Lounge, Yarrow Stadium (time to be confirmed).

Getting into the volunteer spirit together are Seema with her little sister Ramani

CongratulationsCongratulationsCongratulations to Sharyn Fairhurst and Tyler who will celebrate their 3 YEAR match anniversary this month. And, congratulations also to the following matches who celebrate their 1 YEAR match anniversary this month:Tony Brownrigg and Pacey Jenny & Stuart Waite and BrooklynTracy Dando and PhoenixTony Dravitzki and Jadeimand congratulations to the following matches who celebrate their 3 MONTH match anniversary this month:Paul Roberts and Brody Nancy Gordon and RoxanneThese milestones really are a wonderful achievement, and one that we know has taken much time and dedication from you and your families. A huge well done to everyone.

Taranaki Updates

Leticia and Theresa on match day in 2009

Theresa and Leticia now ...