Monthly Archive for April, 2009

“There is no such thing in anyone’s life as an unimportant day”.  Alexander Woollcott (American Author)

And so, another month of ‘important’ days has passed by.  I have been wearing many different hats, and each one of them has successes, challenges and a seemingly never-ending ‘To Do’ list attached to it.

March has seen me busy working on (and refining) my goals for the year.  Some days I find myself answering phones, discussing case plans and delivering training on ‘helping skills’.   Other days it is designing flow charts and trying to get my head around Excel spreadsheets(!!), and then joining the team for a ‘green’ lunch to celebrate St Patrick’s Day.  No matter what it is that I am doing each day, it is amazing to be able to have a small part in supporting the young people, staff and volunteers here at Challenge. 

So here’s just a few snapshots of the action taking place around here.  

This month staff and students from Challenge College (our alternative education programme) went on a kayaking trip down the Wanganui river.  This seems to have been a life-changing experience for all involved.   The photos are amazing, as are the relationships built through the experiences.   Although I didn’t go on this trip, I have been working with the students to put together a school newsletter with stories and photos of their first term.  

On Thursday 19^th March, Challenge had a stall at the ‘Hands On’ Careers Expo in Porirua.  We ran a quiz for the young people visiting the stall, the prize was some Hurricanes tickets (courtesy of the Vodafone Sponsorship team!)  The tickets went to a young Porirua woman, who told us that she was giving the tickets to her parents who had never been able to go to a Hurricanes game. 

This month has seen some new faces around Challenge.  We have three Year 13 students joining us as part of a Gateway work experience programme.  They will be getting involved in running programmes and working with other young people, at the same time as studying towards credits for NCEA.   Our Gap year trainees are    going from strength to strength, helping out with many of our programmes and learning as they go.  We have also had a few people volunteer their time to help us out with various programmes.  All these enthusiastic and talented people have provided hugely valuable support to our staff, young people and our programmes.   

Planning is now well underway for some exciting events to celebrate Challenge 2000’s 21^st birthday.  The various celebrations will include a quiz night, a barbecue fundraiser and a Rock ‘n’ Roll night.  We will finish the celebratons with a weekend conference in October.   Youth Week is taking place in the last week of May and we are planning an interactive event, “FamYou Fest’ for young people and their families to celebrate. 

So for this month -  “That’s all folks”. 

Mentors create channels for the passage of information, advice, opportunities, challenges, and support, with the ultimate goals of achievement and fun – it is this message I’ve been radiating out to the community over the past month to build the profile of Carabiner, resulting in higher participation, more dreams coming true and a society where all people feel valued members of our community.

As a new programme a big part of my campaign over the next year is to promote Carabiner as a service which links individuals on the passion of their heart and the vision of their minds to overcome the physical aspect of our personas. Common traits are far more common that we originally think, and this is something that our mentors and mentorees will most defiantly discover.

In a role which sees me completing tasks from a governance level right through to the operational roll-out and implementation of matching mentors and mentorees, I am learning how to wear several hats at one time. One of the greatest results running parallel to becoming a recipient of the World of Difference programme is the increased network and ability to get in front of people who are willing to share information which moves me from reinventing the wheel to polishing existing ones to the shade most appropriate for Carabiner. In meeting with several heads of mentoring programs I have completed a first full draft of the policies / procedures manual, with this completed I will have met one of my core activities, yahoo!!!

Not to panic though, I am pacing myself and have several more activities to go including a business plan and marketing strategy. With demand defiantly comes performance and with a huge resource for mentors and mentorees wanting a more formal relationship with Carabiner (watch this space) I am encouraged and supported to deliver something truly awesome.

In reviewing how people can be encouraged to sign up and get a mentor I’ve narrowed the broadness of “supporting one to reach their pinnacle”, to “providing a focus which encourages people to identify the pinnacle they wish to reach”. In this process I am now promoting Carabiner as mentoring programme which supports people with; specific goals, at university, in business, or who have identified the importance of personal development, this realising that pinnacle goals will continually arise in different parts of people lives, and when they do they can count on Carabiner being part of their fan club!

With speaking at Special Olympic events, to university students and current participants in the programme I’ve been totally inspired by the determination these dudes and dudets have towards achieving a personal best in their goals. In supporting them on this journey and adding colour to the canvas of their lives, I am loving a job which has so much incredible energy surrounding it.

The mentors and mentorees from Carabiners pilot year have recently completed their year of awesomeness, it has been fun to reflect on their experience and success. The photo associated with this blog appropriately shows one of our mentorees crossing the finish; in a year of huge personal development and career identification this mentorees decided to participate ‘round the bays’ for his first time.

Our minds paint the world, “impossible is nothing”, so let’s create a world free from barriers and open to inclusion.