The Vodafone New Zealand Foundation

Te Aho Tū Roa…2010 is ON!

Published by Te Rawhitiroa Bosch on January 22, 2010 in Diary Updates. 0 Comments Tags: Enviroschools, Te Aho Tū Roa, wharekura, World of Difference.

Whiria, whiria, whiria ngā aho. Ngā aho tāngata, ngā aho i whakatōria e ngā mātua tūpuna, ngā aho e hono nei i a tātou ki a tātou, tātou ki tō tātou taiao, ngā aho kōrero e pū mai ana i ngā mātāpuna kōrero ō nehe.
Whiria kia ū, whiria kia tū roa ai mō ngā uri whakatupu. Tihei mauri ora!

Picture this: Sitting here at my desk overlooking the beauuutiful Whaingaroa Harbour, an A3 sized list of tasks (transferred from my head, brainstormed onto paper) on my left, phone on my right, computer in front of me, calendar on the wall already filling up with dates, dates, tasks, meetings, jams… 2010 is on.

paradise = summer holiday back home..

This is my first blog for the year.. just trying to get my mind back in from holiday mode (up there in the photo) and back into the idea that this is going to be a meeean year. On the ‘to do’ list right now are the project overviews, budgets and letters to potential supporters. With a project so fresh and so new, a big part of the work now seems to be shaping the concept and connecting with people - forging and strengthening partnerships that can benefit all involved.

I am massively grateful to be supported to be working another year with the awesome whanau at The Enviroschools Foundation, and to be able to focus my energy on working with rangatahi Māori around the country to bring together Te Aho Tū Roa.

Te Aho Tū Roa is a national jam programme where rangatahi will explore stories from the past - ngā kōrero a ngā tūpuna - that illustrate connection and belonging to place, specifically to a significant body of water in their local area. Whether it be their Mātāpuna, Awa, Roto or Moana, rangatahi will be challenged to seek out the people or places where the stories are held, bringing community connections, actions and feelings of belonging, pride of place. They will then bring these stories together at the national event where they will have the opportunity to use their skills and talents in performance.

This first part of the year is also when we will start to get in touch with the most important people in this project - the rangatahi, kura and people in the regions. Need to get lists sorted, letters for principals, workshop plans and logistics sorted. Get on the phone…

We are also exploring the possibility of getting sponsored a vehicle to get me and my crew around to the kura in the regions to carry out the workshop programme and regional jams later on in the year…any ideas? contacts?

Also, as part of the project we are looking to record the journeys of some of the participants of the project through interviews at the hui ā kura - school workshops, the hui ā rohe - regional jams, and the national jam event - Te Aho Tū Roa in September this year. Through this we hope to be able to tell the story of the outcomes of the project and also come out with a resource to help future participants get an idea of what it’s all about. To enable this to happen, on our wish list is a Sony Z1 video camera so any ideas on a good place to source these are more than welcome!

Aaanyway, taking a brief moment of time for reflection (and blog writing) has given me a nice space to breathe, back to mahi now and let the weaving continue… Whiria, whiria, whiria ngā aho. Whiria kia ū, kia tū roa ai mo ngā rā e heke mai ana.

Mauri ora!

karioi

A new adventure…

Published by Lani Evans on January 18, 2010 in Diary Updates. 0 Comments

My goodness! A whole entire World of Difference year has zipped on by and things down here are still frothing like mad!

This year has been an amazing experience for me – the support that the Foundation provided, their confidence in my ability and the mentoring that I received will serve me and Volunteer Otago well in the future. Being part of the World of Difference is more than just a funding grant – it’s being welcomed into a whanau that is loving, supportive and encourages personal and professional development. I am grateful and humbled at having been included.

Some of the super-fantastic summer jam crew

The end of my year has been a delight, with my last week spent getting psyched and inspired by some wicked young people at the Regeneration Summer Jam, possibly the most awesome hui ever, ever, ever. They’ve sent me back to Dunedin absolutely buzzing with new ideas, new friends and a whole van load of enthusiasm!!

The Greatest Show on Earth 2 (we were wrong about the last one)

The Greatest Show on Earth 2* (we were wrong about the last one) was another highlight with a lovely, low key Sunday of music at Chicks Hotel in Port Chalmers, designed as a chance to wind down and celebrate the great work that the youth volunteers have done throughout the year. Big thanks go to the organising crew and the bands who played such awesome tunes.

We also began our scoping project in central Otago, looking at ways to effectively expand the work of our Volunteer centre to include more people, places and non-profits. We’re hoping that by the middle of 2010, we’ll have a good idea about the sorts of services that the folks in Wanaka, Queenstown, Alexandra and Cromwell would like.

There was, as always, a week up in Wellington, the city that seems to be trying to lure me away from Dunedin. There was some Generosity Hub work to be done, some meetings and a great weekend spent with the Regeneration Summer Jam crew, nutting out thoughts and ideas for the week-long January festival. It’s gonna be a blast.

Paint by numbers is always a winner! Happy International Volunteers day everyone!

And for International Volunteers Day, I got to go to Nelson with Frank Bunce, playing his first official role as the Ambassador for Volunteer Centres, then come back to Dunedin to create a paint-by-numbers mural with a great crew of Dunedinites.

Things for next year are looking swell. I’ll be stepping up and out of my youth-focused role, into the Managers position at Volunteer Otago. It’s an exciting (and slightly terrifying) move, but I believe that with the help and support of our amazing group of staff and volunteers, we should be able to develop and grow the organisation and ensure the sustainability of the youth programme for years to come.

It’s nice to know that the World of Difference whanau will still be around next year and it’s been a real pleasure to welcome in the new members of our family – I can’t wait to see what exciting projects they round up in the next 12 months.

Thanks for being rad everyone!! See you round!

Thanks for an awesome year!

Hurtling towards the New Year!

Published by Tiffany on December 22, 2009 in Diary Updates. 0 Comments

It’s the final quarter and my quietness on the blog front is not a reflection of a quiet working world this November and December!!

For the past 2 months my calendar has been packed full of events! Much tooing and frooing to Wellington was done for the Volunteering New Zealand Conference (where Lani’s crew of young volunteers stole the show), then to Parliament for a special Foundation presentation to MPS in the Great Hall, and back the following week for a Youthline National Executive meeting.

November kicked off with the World of Difference 2010 announcement event and induction day. This was an exciting time to meet with the new recipients and hear about the wonderful work they are going to be doing next year. What an incredible bunch of young leaders: they left me with a sense of inspiration that anything is possible if there is passion and commitment.

As they look forward to new beginnings we are busily wrapping up a very full year at Youthline House. And we have been busy in the hub! Celebrations abound for the mentor team who have DOUBLED the number of trainee counsellors who have graduated to solo this semester from 2008. What has been most awesome is that we have managed to do all this hard work whilst keeping the team happy and relaxed so that they can begin the year afresh in 2010 with lots of positive energy for their work. Our final Mentors team meeting was a chance to celebrate and look back at how far we have come as a team! Wooooooo hoooooooo thanks Vodafone!

Mid November I was invited to speak at the Vodafone induction day sharing with new employees a little bit about the impact the World of difference programme has had on Youthline and how volunteering has changed my life. I relished in the opportunity to reconnect with the sense of purpose this work has given me.

Events continued to make up my calendar with a morning on the Grey Lynn festival Stall. Fight Night: Fight for Youth followed and we raised over $10,000 for our Manukau Centre, and supported our own Georgina ‘cool hands’ Clarke in the ring, beating her opponent and doing the Youthline Whanau proud.

Back on the home front more preparation was in action for the volunteers ‘Red Featuring White’ Christmas party. Red and white adorned volunteers packed the dance floor- they sure know how to party! Amongst all the silliness we had the opportunity to celebrate everyone’s contribution through the year and to announce our inaugural Volunteer of the Year award. A special taonga had been carved and blessed for the occasion and the votes had been coming in fast and furious for 2weeks. The nominees were the top 10 contributors on the helpline, this group did a staggering 700 volunteer hours combined in 2009- that’s 30 days work, day and night.

Youthline CEO Stephen Bell (left) Volunteer of the Year Jaimee Lynn McPhee (centre) and Tiffany (right)

24 year old Jaime Lynn McPhee was the winner and received the award with grace and modesty. She is known to her peers as incredibly compassionate, always able to provide enlightening perspectives and has deep empathy and understanding.
What a way to end the year and bring on the holidays!

MERI KIRIMETE
Tiffany

Living the dream

Published by Cameron Calkoen on December 21, 2009 in Diary Updates. 0 Comments

YES iCAN crew

As we start to see Santa Claus making his rounds of the shopping malls it is hard to believe another festive season dawns. It only feels like yesterday that I was preparing for my World of Difference year with YES and Carabiner but what a year it has been. From speaking to disability groups in Japan to speaking alongside the Prime Minister at the social Hero Awards in Auckland, from 5 matches in Carabiner to nearing 20 mentors and mentorees, from a dream to reality Carabiner and the YES Disability Resource Centre have enhanced our foundations to continue supporting the dreams and aspirations of our youth. It is through the support of our sponsors and community and the involvement of our mentors / mentorees that we have been able to create such fond memories.

Carabiner Ice Skaters

On Sunday the 13^th of December Carabiner mentorees took to the ice at Paradice Ice Skating Rink (Botany). Dubbed Carabiners Day in Paradise the experience day was created by youth to create a new exciting challenge while building their networks amongst one another. With four planning sessions in lead up to the event the crew of Mentorees made sure that the event was accessible to all and with wheel-chairs zooming around the ice on the day, it was great to see the guys having a blast!

On Thursday the 3^rd of December both the YES Disability Resource Centre (Auckland) and iCAN (Wellington) collaborated on a project to celebrate the International Day of Persons with a Disability. YES iCAN was an initiative driven by youth and people with disabilities to show the contribution that we make to society. To actively promote our passion of making a difference we set out to collect as many cans as we could for the Auckland City Mission over a 5 hour period. By using social media sites and e-mail we got our message to individuals, businesses, schools and community groups to bring in a total of 2,300 cans on the day.

While the year is wrapping up, I’m busy in planning for 2010 and in full excitement for what it contains. Our first training in the New Year is on February 27^th and open to mentors / mentorees linked and waiting to be linked, for those who are thinking “is Carabiner for me”? or “What could I contribute”? Originally training was for mentors / mentorees already matched but as we have found this can be an important part of the matching process. It provides a full insight into Carabiner without having had made any long term commitments. With the training youth and people young at heart are then ready to become a Mentor / Mentoree at anytime and can go straight into the process rather than waiting for the next training dates. Registrations for the training are now open so do contact cam@yesdisability.org.nz for a spot. Following the training (which we hope to be massive) we will have a mentor evening for all mentors to network, ask questions and hear from other mentors who have completed their year in Carabiner to share tips and advice.

2010 looks to be an awesome year and I look forward to sharing my plans with you in the New Year.

merry-christmas-from-cam

It’s here and we are into it (Summer)

Published by Sally Wood on December 17, 2009 in Diary Updates. 0 Comments

The HYPE-GS “season” is well and truly upon us. No winding down for holidays for us!!! We have a fantastic team of enthusiastic people who want to work crazy hours and holiday periods to support young people at events and in their gathering spaces. The commitment of youth workers is amazing – many have just come to the end of a long year and then they put their hands up to work for HYPE-GS. Unbelievable passion!!!

We have some new staff that I look forward to working with and in addition to the HYPE-GS training day all the staff and I undertook an intensive first aid training course.

My focus now is on inducting new workers on shifts and providing on the job training and support to them and the YOUTHTRAIN volunteers. The hours are long and it’s hard on your feet but young people are really stoked that we are back out in their gathering areas.

We held the last YOUTHTRAIN training weekend last weekend which was awesome. “Big ups” to Paul Cooke who came to share his passions about globalisation and its impact on young people. The level of discussion blew me away, NZ young people are really aware of the impact of globalisation. It was hard to draw the overall training course to an end on the Sunday as we have built a great rapport within the group, overcome many group and individual obstacles and shared many personal stories. I will be supporting 5 of the young people as they go on to volunteer and work for HYPE-GS on our event, street, beach and recreation services and I hope to continue to work with the others through the planning of Youth Week 2010 activities.

Work is still underway for the 18 YOUTHTRAIN participants completing their workbooks to attain their Level 3 Certificate in Youth Work and carrying out evaluation activities. We are also planning a BBQ celebration event in January for participants and the wider community that have supported the programme in various ways.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all and be sure to PARTY SAFELY. If you come across the ORANGE PEOPLE in Nelson/ Tasman this summer don’t forget to say HI

World of Difference recipients - 2009

Published by admin on December 2, 2009 in multimedia. 1 Comment

Introducing the Vodafone World of Difference recipients for 2009

A day in paradise, or is that ‘paradice’?

Published by Cameron Calkoen on November 26, 2009 in Diary Updates. 0 Comments

The last month in Carabiner land has been truly awesome. Throughout the year we have been able to make Carabiner more and more youth friendly. By this I mean that through becoming aware and adopting the policies of youth development we have seen the program start to blossom. The youth participation is more obvious in the planning of our experience days. Experience days provide an opportunity for mentorees to own the development of an event that will challenge them and allow them to enhance their network. With some guidelines set by Carabiner (how much money they have to play with) our first experience day is set for December. Each year we have two experience days, one set for summer and the other winter, it is quite ironic that our summer event will be at Paradice (spelt correctly) Ice Skating Rink. In deciding upon an event the team gave consideration to costs, social aspects, accessibility, and full participation. Can’t wait to show photos in the next blog.

With the current matches fully participating in the program it has been fantastic to see our numbers grow through the trainings. Although we have had our last training for 2009 I’m already raring for our first training in 2010 as it will be bigger and better. Over the recent months we have had a decent share of new applications yet our training numbers haven’t been at capacity. Originally it was thought that mentors and mentorees had to be matched before the training took place, but in reflection (after been put under pressure) it was realized that going into a training unmatched is equally (if not more) valuable. This gives individuals a full insight to the program and who knows it may organically form some matches.

Over the next week I’m really busy with the event YES iCAN. The YES Disability Resource Centre (Auckland) and iCAN (Wellington) are jamming on a gig this December 3^rd which promotes the contribution that both Youth and People with Disabilities can make to society. In support of the Auckland City Mission ‘YES iCAN’ is a canned food collection to celebrate International Day of Persons with a Disability and will actively showcase the difference people can make to this world. We will be collecting cans outside the Auckland City Mission (136-140 Hobson Street) between 9 and 2:30pm and would love to see you and your cans.

As a charity who is use to asking for support, it is really cool to have found away in which we can support another charity. It is through this support that we strengthen relationships and I hope that this type of collaboration encourages others to work together; reducing the demands put on funders and encouraging innovation that can move our communities forward.

It is through the support of the Vodafone foundation that I’m able to support others to be the best that they can be. Thank you for sharing the love.

Festivals, Conferences and more!

Published by Lani Evans on November 19, 2009 in Diary Updates. 1 Comment

Another month or so of extreme goodness! Holiday programmes were their usual awesome selves as were the school groups, which have just started to wind down as students gear up for exams. Good luck everyone!

: The Wellington conference Crew created such a stir at Volunteering Unleashed that they were asked back to speak at the closing of the event.

I was lucky enough to take an amazing group of high school students up to Wellington in October. Amara, Audrey, Jule, Geena and I had a massive road trip up to Wellington and spent a few days scoping out the youth health services as well as presenting at the Volunteering Unleashed conference. The crew spent ages preparing a short film and surveying other student to get the facts on volunteering. Their talk was awesome – in fact, they were so amazing that they were asked back to speak at the closing of the conference event! Nice one crew! Check out their film through this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arBVOlXDgI4

: Wellington Conference Crew - Audrey, Amara, Jule and geena

And the 24^th of October was, of course, the 350 day of action. The Dunedin Spring Food festival (organised in part by Nick Holmes, one of the 2010 World of Difference recipients) was a huge success. Literally thousands of people sauntered through the railway station, taking workshops on everything from chicken husbandry to bee keeping, eating delicious local produce and signing up to volunteer! There are some pictures form the Dunedin event online at http://www.350.org/

Participating in the Wanakafest Community festival was a real blast!

In October we had the privilege of heading into Central Otago for the Wanakafest Community festival. A crew of ten young people headed over to participate in the Kahu Youth street parade, help set up for the market stalls, ran a survey on volunteering and marshalled at the events… but the highlight for me was definitely the late night polar plunge! Thanks for the push you guys!

We had an amazingly colourful float in the Kahu Youth Street Parade

October also saw Zoe Chamel come down to us for a week for the Hands Up Vodafone programme. She worked alongside our staff members to produce a business plan for 2010 that we looooove! I can’t wait until next year when we get to crank out her great ideas – office rearrangements, new mailing lists, social networking blasts – it’s amazing to see what can happen when new eyes look at old problems.

The Participatory Video Hampden project finished up this month too, and the film was so successful that they had to screen it again and again so that everyone who wanted to could get a look.

The year feels like it’s wrapping up far to quickly for me, but there are more adventures in store before Christmas – like the Santa Parade, International Volunteers Day and, of course, holidays and all of the fun volunteering that goes along with that… mmmm.

The party is over, let the work begin

Published by Bridget Roche on November 17, 2009 in Diary Updates. 0 Comments

Getting back into the routine of work after the 21^st birthday celebrations was a bit of a struggle, but all the team seem to be back into the swing of things now. Term 4 is always an exciting one, from the beginning it is a countdown to the end of the year, Christmas and the summer holidays. Here in Wellington the start to summer has been elusive with a few lovely days followed by yet another bone chilling southerly.

This term we have the Challenge College students coming to ‘The House’ (the Youth and Family Centre), for a community lunch on Mondays. This is a highlight of the week with staff and students all sharing lunch, chatting about their day and playing a bit of touch in the back garden. We’ve managed to catch a few rays of sunshine on the past few Mondays, and fortunately Jenga has proved to be a popular way to spend a rainy lunch break!

For me, this month has been a big month for networking with others in the youth justice sector, attending various meetings as well as a couple of awesome Vodafone Foundation events. On 21^st October I took along a few young people and youth work trainees to the Parliamentary event. This was a great opportunity to see the cool things that are going on with some of the other charity partners. It was also a real ‘first’ for the young people who came with me having the opportunity to meet some MPs and of course Vodafone’s CEO – they’re still talking about taking up his offer to visit the Vodafone building next time they are in Auckland!

Two weeks later I headed up to Auckland for the WOD intro day. This was a great opportunity to reconnect with the team at the Vodafone Foundation, the current recipients and to meet the crew for 2010. It was so inspiring to hear about the fantastic goals that they have set for their WOD year. It was also a timely reminder that this year is ticking away and that I need to remain focused on what I want to achieve here at Challenge before my WOD year ends in Feb.

On Sunday 15^th November we had our Gap year graduation. It was amazing to hear the ‘Gappies’ talk about their year and to celebrate an end to all the hard work and training (although I am still chasing a few of them to complete their final youth work assignments!)

In the background I have been working hard to get a mentoring service plan written up, the next step will be to pull together the admin side of things and set some dates for mentor training, probably in January. We are also in the process of planning for 2010, and thinking about exciting and creative holiday programmes. The summer holidays are going to be a fun time of the year and I can’t wait!!

Ciao

Bridget

Spring in our Step

Published by Tiffany on October 20, 2009 in Diary Updates. 0 Comments

Spring kicked off with the senior volunteer leaders (aka Buddies aka Mentors) celebrating their work and dedication in a weekend away at Antara Retreat. And it was certainly well deserved with close to 200 Mentoring hours achieved in the Auckland hub this month! So with the sun shining and brisk chill in the air we set off early one Saturday morning on an hour cavalcade north towards Welsford and Pakari beach.

Antara Retreat opens the doors of its beautiful earthbrick home to young people as a place of learning and support. Set amongst organic gardens, streams and native bush, the retreat is founded on the principle of people helping people, and all stays and programmes are free of charge. We were hosted with warmth and generosity by Josephine whose zen-like aura and heavenly organic vegan kai offered us a tasty experience of health and wellbeing.

Saturday was Buddies Time. The team chilled out in the house, played in the bush and gamboled in gumboots as they put their energy into a few hours of solid work on the organic farm (not without some shenanigans in the hay!)

The Buddies Team at home on the farm

Witnessing the fun spirit with which this team came together to connect with each other was the highlight of my WOD year. The gusto with which they put their hearts into the work on the farm mirrored the commitment they show to their work in mentoring trainee counselors on the helpline. These volunteers are awesome; to me they are the heart of Youthline! The day ended with a bonfire under the full moon accompanied by Josephine’s organic Apple Crumble, (YUM) before some well earned sleep!

Sunday we welcomed 20 of our solo phone counsellors to join the buddies for a day of fun, connection and learning. This was a unique opportunity to learn about the buddies team and attend a workshop on Transference and Counter-Transference, to further develop their counselling skills.

The sunshine and fresh air seemed to dissipate any caffeine withdrawals (it is embargoed in Antara) and everyone was in fine form. The number of attendees again reflected the commitment to learning and community building our solo counsellors make. There was a real sense of the joy of being together as Youthline volunteers.

Spring represents a time of growth and renewal; this metaphorical beginning is pertinent to the Buddies team as this year’s WOD funding springs us forth into a new era and signals our step towards better, more sustainable, times ahead.

With love and daisy chains,

Tiffany