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 3rd 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.
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 24th 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.
Getting back into the routine of work after the 21st 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 21st 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 15th 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
