Check out our latest newsletter for a sneak peak at at what's been happening at big brother big sisters Wellington!
You can directly subscribe to this newsletter so you never miss it, check out the link at the top of our Facebook page. 😊
Happy reading
What a unique time we are living in. I hope you and your loved ones are safe and well. It is an especially difficult time for those who have already faced some challenges in their life - such as the local Littles in the Big Brothers Big Sisters Wellington programme you help support.
As you might imagine, much of the funding we rely on to support these tamariki with life-changing mentors is no longer available. We simply cannot let these children down.
Will you please make a donation to ensure the Littles in your community don't have to suffer the heartbreak of losing this programme and their mentors?
I realise you have likely been impacted as well. Of course, you must put your own whānau first. However, if you are in a position to help, please consider a donation to Big Brothers Big Sisters Wellington to keep the connection between Bigs and Littles alive.
We know that in these uncertain times our Littles need their Bigs more than ever. A Big Brother/Sister provides a child with a reliable friend - someone to talk to, and someone they can trust. Just knowing they have someone in their corner can dramatically impact a child's confidence and resilience. Not to mention, they get to have a lot of fun too!
Wellington Bigs Joanna and Rene haven't let lockdown get in the way of spending time with their Little Brother Daniel. They've helped Daniel with his school work, have worked on drawings of each other, and even did a virtual Easter Egg hunt - all through Skype!
Rene told us:
"We had a great remote controlled Easter egg hunt with Daniel on Skype. We hid 6 eggs outside and sent him 6 clues. During the call he told us where to go and where to point the phone. He found them all and we'll keep them for him. He was SO excited - it was lots of fun! It's been great to stay in contact during these tricky times."
Sadly, there are still several other kids in Wellington who could use a reliable adult role model in their corner. A Big Brother or Sister can make a massive difference in a child's life. As one of our older Little Sisters told us about her Big Sister, "She's a warm, loving person who's smile makes me feel welcome. I trust her and I can talk to her about anything if I have to."
You can help ensure that our Littles can continue to get the support they need from their Bigs throughout these challenging times. And right now, these kids need their mentors more than ever.
All donations, big or small, are deeply appreciated!
Kind regards,
Adithi Pandit
BBBS Wellington Board Chair
We're excited to share this new video from Oranga Tamariki, which highlights the wonderful relationship between Sean and JJ from Big Brothers Big Sisters of Nelson-Tasman.
We're really close to making our first matches here in Wellington - but we won't be able to sustain them, or create stories like Sean & JJ's, without YOUR help.
By giving to our Give a Little Campaign, you'll be an "everyday superhero" by investing in better tomorrows for local Wellington kids, just like JJ. We have a $10,000 "Give a Little" goal - and we know you can help us reach it!
100% of the funds raised will go towards making Big & Little matches in the capital :)
Thank you for sharing our enthusiasm about getting Big Brothers Big Sisters up and running in Wellington.
Thanks to you, we're ready to make a difference!
Your support has made it possible for our first group of "Bigs" to be trained and ready to help some "Littles" Steps away from changing a child's life
With support like yours, significant progress has been made over the past three months towards launching the Big Brothers Big Sisters programme in Wellington. We've had a fantastic response to our call-out for mentors, but we're not done.
We have made the first step towards helping our local Tamariki achieve their full potential and we're so close to making our first match. This wouldn't be possible with out all of you. Thank you!
Welcome your first group of mentors to the team
The first eight "Big Brothers" and "Big Sisters" successfully completed training in November. A big, warm welcome to Lauren, Frances, Sinead, Jeanette, Chanuka, Joanna, Rene and Josh!
Maree Kenyon, a Registered Social Worker and BBBS superstar from Big Brothers Big Sisters Nelson, kindly flew to Wellington to lead our new mentors through this intensive, four-hour training course. Maree covered a variety of topics, including developing strong mentoring relationships, child safety and protection, potential challenges, and activities.
Our volunteer mentors worked together to problem-solve challenging situations and discuss mentoring strategies. We were very impressed by their thoughtful questions and contributions, and feel so lucky to have such an outstanding group of men and women representing Big Brothers Big Sisters Wellington as our first "Bigs".
Special thanks to Maree Kenyon (BBBS Nelson) for volunteering her time to lead such a wonderful, productive training session, and to Life Flight for donating their office space to hold the session. We are so grateful for your support!
Community Partnerships
In addition to maintaining our partnership with the NZ Police in Lower Hutt, Hannah (our Programme Coodinator) has been busy meeting with like-minded community organisations in the Hutt to see how we can collaborate.
We're thrilled to be working with the Billy Graham Youth Foundation and Naenae Boxing Academy, as well as Birthright Hutt, to expand our outreach and awareness in the Hutt Valley.
Hannah was honored to attend Naenae Boxing Academy's Prize Giving Night in December where she met potential families and young mentors who've shown an interest in participating in Big Brothers Big Sisters.
Hannah, along with BBBS Board Member Adithi, also attended Birthright Hutt's Christmas Party, where Sarah Szabo (Birthright Hutt Manager and Social Worker) introduced them to families that might be keen to get involved with Big Brothers Big Sisters Wellington.
We're excited to work with the Billy Graham Youth Foundation, Naenae Boxing Academy and Birthright Hutt in 2019!
Big Brothers Big Sisters and Oranga Tamariki
Learn more about the difference you can make - check out this video created by Oranga Tamariki, featuring Big Brothers Big Sisters.
Big Brother Sean and his "Little" JJ have a pretty remarkable story. Click on the video above to learn more about their experience with Big Brothers Big Sisters Nelson!
How your support is helping
Thank you for your donations!
You have helped us raise $5,000 of our $10,000 goal! We're so grateful to all of you who have helped us achieve this goal by donating and/or raising awareness about Big Brothers Big Sisters.
Please help spread the word! You're efforts have gotten us so close to making the first life-changing big and little match. Thank you! Keep it going!
THANK YOU Wellington Community Trust, One Foundation and Pub Charity! Without your generous grants, you are helping to make this vision of supporting our tamariki a reality.
Local heroes
Andrea & Vivienne - Neon Night Walk
Massive thanks to sisters Andrea and Vivienne for raising funds for us through Porirua's Neon Night Walk.
Andrea and Vivienne, donning high-vis vests and bright butterfly wings, braved the cold, wet weather to walk 24 km (24 km!!) to help BBBS Wellington get closer to making our first Big & Little matches and get on our feet.
With their combined efforts, Andrea and Vivienne raised over $500! Thanks ladies!!
Yoga for the People
Yoga for the People, a Wellington-based Bikram Yoga studio, recently completed a studio-wide challenge to raise money for worthy Wellington-based causes - and chose BBBS Wellington as one of their three charities.
Every time a student came to class, they were asked to "vote" for one of the three chosen charities with a token. At the month's end, they counted the tokens and had raised $400 for Big Brothers Big Sisters Wellington!
We are so grateful that you chose us, and your contribution will make a difference to deserving Wellington-based kids. Thanks Yoga for the People!
Where does the money go?
Speaking of funding, we thought it would be a great idea to help explain where our funds are directed. As a newly established charity, it is important for our donors and potential donors to know exactly what we use the funds for.
When we receive grants from community trusts, donations & sponsorship, we split the funds into various categories. The vast majority of the funding (90%+) goes towards recruiting, vetting, training and supervising our mentors. Without mentors our organisation could not operate so it is imperative that the bulk of our funding go towards supporting these endeavors. Hannah is currently our only paid staff and the board will always operate on a volunteer basis.
The balance of the funding (less than 10%) goes towards smaller items such as a cellphone & internet plan for our Programme Coordinator, external auditors, printing and stationery, and advertising.
We have a policy to always be transparent with our funding, and will share the details each year to the Charities Office.
Special Thank You!
We have been very lucky to have an incredibly skilled and passionate group of individuals volunteer their time to help launch Big Brothers Big Sisters in our capital city. Not only would we like to offer our thanks, but we'd love to share with you how they've been essential in helping us "get on our feet."
Sue Coleville (a Registered Social Worker from the Upper Hutt City Council) and Sarah Szabo (a Registered Social Worker and Manager at Birthright Hutt) have offered their relevant interviewing skills as social workers to help our Programme Coordinator conduct our Mentor Interviews. They have provided valuable insight and feedback during these interviews whilst helping us vet our first set of Big Brothers and Big Sisters. We can not thank either of you enough for volunteering your time and skills and we know that our mentors have enjoyed meeting and learning from you.
Additionally - Melanie Baylis, Grace Taylor, and Tammy Frahm have been working with the BBBS Wellington team over the last few months to develop fundraising and marketing strategies for our programme. They've donated their time and talent to helping us design and write content for emails, social media, and other fundraising collateral. We're so thankful to all of you for your passion, insight and efforts!
Finally, we're excited to have Laura Campbell and Tian Lodder, both Graphic Designers, join our passionate team of volunteers. Laura will be helping design material for our Founding Members Campaign, and Tian will be designing our new website. Thanks for donating your time, talent, and creativity to help BBBS Wellington and deserving Wellington kids!
How Can You Help?
Perhaps now isn't the right time for you to mentor, but if you are wanting to support and promote our programme there are other ways you can help. We are always seeking volunteers (like the ones featured above!) who are interested in running fundraising events and promoting the programme.
National Children's Day, on Sunday, March 3, would be a wonderful day to host a fundraiser for Big Brothers Big Sisters Wellington. Get your friends and family together for a barbecue, kids talent show, or bake sale to support the most deserving Tamariki in Wellington.
Check out their website, http://www.childrensday.org.nz/, for event tips, activity ideas, free resources, promotional material and more details on hosting fundraising events to celebrate Kiwi Youth!
Mentors:
The lifeblood of our organisation is our mentors: One hour, once a week, is all it takes and we can never have enough mentors. Each time we pair a young person with a role model, we start something incredible and the forming of a friendship for life can change the future for the young child.
If you are interested in becoming a mentor, please email us your contact details with a brief description of who you are, why you would like to mentor, your ideal match and what part of Wellington you are based.
There is a vetting process to go through (which can take up to three months) so it is important to start the process early if you are considering becoming a mentor. 80% of the children that we hope to mentor will be from Lower & Upper Hutt, with the balance of the children from other areas of Wellington.
Other Ways You Can Help
As a new charity in Wellington, it is essential that we set up our organisation as quickly and cost efficiently as possible. Our immediate needs are funding, office supplies, and media support for publicity. This is only the beginning so if you or anybody you know can support in these areas or any other areas, we would love to hear from you!
If any of these opportunities interest you, or you would like more information, please email us at wellington@bigbrothersbigsisters.org.nz.
Get Social
Want to hear from us more than once every three months? You’re in luck! Jump online, give us a follow and get involved. You are welcome to share this newsletter with your friends and family and anyone is welcome to join our mailing list.
