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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:Mon 2 July 2012 Stratford Monthly Meet, 7.00pm, Stratford Community House, Juliet Street, Stratford. Tues 14 Aug 2012 New Plymouth Bi-Monthly Meet, 7.00pm at the Tasman Club, Octavius Place, New Plymouth.Tues 31 July 2012 Mentor & Partners Evening with our guest speaker Principal Youth Court Judge, His Honour

Judge Andrew Becroft. Legends Lounge, Yarrow Stadium 7.00pm-9.00pm.

Taranaki Events:WelcomeWelcome JULY 2012

Proudly supported by:

e hope you are all managing to keep warm during this cold snap. You are all probably aware that we said our farewells to Shannon this week. She has secured a new position with NPDC - we wish Wher all the best in her new venture. She was a great addition to our team and will be missed greatly

by all of us here in the office and by our mentors.

Roller Skating, every Friday Night from 7.00pm till 9.00pm during July at East End Roller Arena, Nobs Line, New Plymouth. Admission is $5.00, skates for hire at no extra cost.

thThe Samsung Experience Truck, 28 July 10am-2pm , at War Memorial Carpark, Miranda Street Stratford. Also being held at The Hub in thHawera on Sunday the 29 July from 10am-2pm. A FREE event. Contact Terry Long @ Sport Taranaki 067590930 ext 737.

terry@sporttaranaki.org.nz An interactive Olympic experience, look for clues and discover the

Olympic games.Taonga Pūoro, Sat 14 Jul 2012 from 2pm at Puke Ariki, New Plymouth. This highly popular interactive workshop is back! Using Taonga Pūoro (traditional Māori instruments), participants will hear the stories behind then and experiment with the sounds they make. All members of the family are welcome on this musical journey of discovery! A FREE event.Barrett Domain Planting, Sun 15 Jul 2012, 10.00am-12.00pm at Barrett Domain, New Plymouth. Join us for a wetland community planting event around Barrett Lagoon. Best access is from Roto Street entrance to Domain. Follow directional signage on day. Please bring a raincoat and a spade and wear suitable footwear. Free barbecue for volunteers. A FREE event, contact Sarah Kane on 027 457 6642 kanes@npdc.govt.nz

Night at the Museum, Fri 20 Jul 2012 starting at 7pm at Puke Ariki, New Plymouth. Do our moas take a walk when the lights go out? Maybe the birds on our cliff stretch their wings with a flight round the Foyer? Find out for yourself with a nocturnal tour of the museum! Be prepared to meet some of our native species that come out when the sun goes down and the pesky critters that threaten their survival. Please bring a torch for this family–friendly event. Jim jams are optional! A FREE event, please contact Puke Ariki front desk on 06-759 6060, enquiries@npdc.govt.nz

http://www.pukeariki.com Mentors please note the late start time of this event and use your

discretion when deciding on whether or not to take your young person.Pukeiti Explorer Day, Sun 05 Aug 2012 2pm-4pm at Pukeiti Garden, 2290 Carrington Road, New Plymouth.Bring your kids for activities in the garden plus learn how to lift native seedlings and pot them up to take home to enhance your own. A FREE event. Contact Georgie Williams on 0800 736 222.

Ten Pin Bowling & Pizza

e held our annual Bowling and Pizza event recently where lots of fun was had by everyone! We had a great turn-out, and witnessed some W

great bowling skills, with a few of our mentors showing a strong competitive streak! The pizzas were a great hit as u s u a l , i t ’ s amazing how many pieces of pizza one child can eat! You can see in the photo of L iesha and Molly the huge pile of pizza boxes that was generated. A big thanks to the mentors that brought the i r young person along and made the e v e n t s o successful.

Sheila showing her little sister Shechinah the finer points of bowling!

We have a big list of celebrations this month. This is not only reflective of our growth, but also shows the commitment from our wonderful group of volunteer mentors who continue to give of their time. Congratulations to the following matches who will celebrate their 4 YEAR match anniversary this month:Fern Cull and TraceyBarry Greenbrook and NikauMataatua Oke and HoaniFaye & Vic Omundsen and NathanAnna Crawford and AshleyCongratulations also to the following matches who will celebrate their 3 YEAR match anniversary this month: Erin Pearson and HannahMike Jones and TylerJacqui Edge and Mckaylaand congratulations to the following matches who will celebrate their 1 YEAR match anniversary this month: Sophie Mawson and Sharnita-RoseGerard Langford and Kyoand congratulations to the following matches who celebrate their 3 MONTH match anniversary this month:Nicole Attrill and MadisonNonni Bates and KaseyNeil Herdson and ShaydinThese 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.

CongratulationsCongratulations

Thank you!A big thanks to ‘Care First’ for their generous donation of $250 to Big Brothers Big Sisters. We are going to use this money to widen our range of games at

replace some of the ones that are damaged. Some of you may have noticed that we have upgraded the table tennis table there too - new bats, balls and a net are on their way as well.

the Tasman Club, and

Kim with her little sister Stef at the four year tree planting ceremony

Start SomethingStart Something

Congratulations to our recent matchesCongratulations to our recent matches

Ray with his new little brother, Corey - CB, STFD

Eli with his new little brother, Freedom - CB, STFD

Tom with his new little brother, Jayden - CB, NP

Liesha with her new little sister, Molly - CB, NP

Info Snippets...Monthly MeetsStratford‘s next meeting is on Monday 6 August at 7.00pm, in the Stratford Community House, Juliet Street, Stratford. New Plymouth’ next bi-monthly meet is on Tuesday 14 August 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 offer encouragement and support to our new mentors.

Mentor and Partner EveningPrincipal Youth Court Judge, His Honour Judge Andrew Becroft will be the guest speaker at our Mentor and Partner evening on the 31 July 2012, at the Legends Lounge, Yarrows Stadium, 7.00 pm - 9.00 pm. Please RSVP to Sara if you and your partner are able to attend.

Swimming LessonsWe still have places available for those of you that are interested in taking your young person to swimming lessons in Term 3. Please e-mail Sara to register your interest.

Kai for KidsThese cooking classes are starting again on Sunday 29 July and will run for the following four Sundays. At the moment we are only offering them to children over 12 as we have limited spaces available. We plan to be able to offer these cooking classes in the future, so if your young person is under 12 there will be an opportunity for them to participate eventually! Big thanks to Te Roopu Paharakeke Hauora of the Maori Health Unit for sponsoring these classes, and to Spotswood College for allowing us to use their facilities.

It is a mystery why adults expect perfection from children. Few grown-ups can

get through a whole day without making a mistake. - Marcelene Cox

In June this year Jadeim and I celebrated our first anniversary since being matched. When I first met Jadeim and started getting to know him I didn’t really know what to expect, but right from the first introduction I did know that we were going to have fun. We both enjoy a love of the outdoors and our favourite outings have been going out on the farm, whether it be helping me feed-up the horses, playing with our dog, hunting, fishing, eeling, refilling bait stations, riparian planting or kayaking on Lake Ratapiko, time seems to fly by. On rainy days we enjoy watching rugby together, going to the movies and have had many a battle on the pool table.One of the funniest things we have done together would be when we had a day up in the snow last year. We did

everything from sack races to snow fights and even burying Jadeim head first in the snow! We both had a wonderful and unforgettable time together.Some of the changes I have noticed in Jadeim are that he is becoming a lot more confident in himself when we are out in public and we can now both talk a lot more openly to each other about almost anything. Jadeim is very well mannered and polite and just fun to be around.The highlight for me is to see a big smile on Jadeim's face when I pick him up and when he says "thank you, I've had an awesome time". Probably the most important thing I have learnt since our match began is there is nothing material than can replace just spending time with each other. Tony Dravitzki

Match ProfileTony and Jadeim

Four Year Anniversary Tree Planting CeremonyWe had a beautiful sunny day for our four year tree planting ceremony, and six mentors managed to attend with their young person. Tway to celebrate matches that have reached their four year anniversary. It is a fantastic achievement of dedication and friendship and a milestone both mentors and their young people should be very proud of. The tree is symbolic of a growing friendship that changes as time passes. It is also a place that they can revisit over the years as a poigent reminder of their friendship. The council have very kindly put aside a planting area for us at Lake Rotomanu, and supplied young trees free of charge for us. They will continue to supply Big Brothers Big Sisters with trees (and spades!) as other matches reach their four year milestone, so we hope to have a forest growing up there in a few years time!

he ceremony is a

Garry with his little brother Dante at the four year tree planting ceremony