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Support for young people

Here are some tips for mentors and whānau to support taiohi at this time:Talk with your taiohi / young person about what has happened, and what is being done to help us all pull through, in a way they can understand. Be honest but make the information age-appropriate – don’t overdo it or it can lead to overwhelm.Share the positive stories you hear of support and care being shown in the community.Be prepared to answer questions – sometimes the same question over and over again. This is the...

Cyclone Gabrielle Support

Our thoughts go out to all those affected by the devastating effects of Cyclone Gabrielle.Kia noho haumaru, kia kaha | Stay safe, stay strongFacebook pages seem to be the best place to go for the most up to date information. Details below are accurate as at 1 March 2023. Assistance AvailableHB Civil Defence Emergency Management GroupIf you need to access welfare services in the wake of Cyclone Gabrielle you can call our free helpline on 0800 117 672, from 8am – 8pm on weekdays and 8am to ...

A Craggy Christmas

A number of our mentors and team helped Craggy Range Winery pack gift sacks for A Children’s Christmas Foundation. It was a privilege to be part of the bustling, sack-packing event. Our mentees were very grateful recipients – it has been fabulous to see the joy on their faces when they receive their sacks. Thank you to Craggy Range for the opportunity to be involved in such a generous and inspiring initiative. ...

Match Sponsor site visits

Two of our sponsored matches have enjoyed visits to their sponsors' work sites over the last couple of months. Read more below about the Patton Engineering and Hawke’s Bay Airport visits and the fun our mentees (and mentors!) had....

End-of-year match event - Ranui Farm

We celebrated our end of year mentor and mentee event at Ranui Farm Park. Our mentors and mentees enjoyed the wide range of activities that Ranui Farm Park offers – kayaking, paintball target shooting, the waterslide, archery, hammer throwing and a good old ride round the farm in the buggy. Shout outs go to all those who helped make it a great day – Jan (mentor) who works at T&G – for the apples, Original Foods for the delicious cakes, The Apple Press for the yummy juice, Ranui Farm Park f...

Match outing - MTG exhibition

Earlier this week, we visited the MTG Hawke's Bay for a guided tour of their exhibition Kuru Taonga - Voices of Kahungunu led by Curator Te Hira Henderson (Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Pākehā). We were captured by Te Hira's passionate telling of the history and people that have shaped Te Matau-a-Māui. Our mentees, mentors, and staff had great pātai (questions) to ask and we came away feeling more knowledgeable and with an increased understanding of the history. Ngā mihi ki a kouto...

Magpies Skills and Drills

Early one September Saturday some of our matches met up with Chase, Jonah and Jacob from the Hawkes Bay Magpies for a Skills and Drills session followed by a tour of Hawke’s Bay Rugby HQ.  We asked the Magpies who their role models were when they were growing up and all three said their Grandad or Dad. It is so important for young people to have a role model to look up to which is why mentoring works! A big thank you to Hawke’s Bay Rugby Union for making this happen and to Chase, Jonah...

The Big Dress Up

Maraenui Bilingual School and Ebbett Park School participated in our inaugural ‘Big Dress Up’ fundraiser where tamariki, kaiako (teachers) and kaiāwhina (support staff) dressed up as someone they look up to. Read more below about what they got up to. Ngā mihi nui ki a koutou katoa mō tō tautoko / Thank you all very much for your support!...

Match Sponsor site visits

A number of our sponsored matches have enjoyed visits to their sponsor's work sites over the last couple of months. Read more below about the Napier Port, Tomoana Warehousing, S Thompson Log Cartage Ltd & Beany visits and the fun our mentees had....

Planetarium visit

Our matches were able to learn about the wonders of the night sky during their recent Planetarium visit. A Planetarium recreates a moving picture of the night sky where the stars and planets can be viewed at any time, day or night, rain or shine. There was plenty to learn for our budding astronomers! A big thank you to Holt Planetarium for hosting our matches....

Hawke's Bay Volunteer Excellence Awards

This year we nominated Big Brothers Big Sisters volunteer Toni for the Individual Award at the Hawke's Bay Volunteer Excellence Awards (pictured Bridget – Programme Administrator, Toni – mentor/nominee, Patricia – Sponsorship Manager/Mentor Coordinator). Toni has been a Big Brothers Big Sisters mentor to mentee Katelin for almost 5 years! We wanted to recognise and honour Toni - her commitment as a mentor has seen her and Katelin’s friendship flourish and has led to so many positive outc...

Quiz and Auction evening 2022

A fabulous evening was had by all at our Quiz and Auction evening. Many local businesses and supporters of BBBS donated items for auction and raffle. Thanks to the generosity of everyone who donated items, a cash donation and the generosity of those in attendance; the event raised almost $8,000 – enough to support a number of matches for this coming year. Napier Old Boys Marist Clubrooms welcomed us again and Brayden Coldicutt from Harcourts returned as quiz master and auctioneer. New Wor...

National Hui 2022

Mentor Coordinator Hayley attended the Big Brothers Big Sisters National Hui in Wellington earlier this month; an incredible three days of collaboration, mahi and aroha. The Hui brought together staff from all 12 BBBS branches - from Auckland to the South Island’s West Coast. Thanks to the Taradale RSA for supporting BBBS Hawke's Bay with funding towards travel costs. Ngā mihi....

Outing Idea - Geocaching

Have you tried Geocaching with your mentee yet? Geocaching is like a giant treasure hunt. There are millions of geocaches hidden around the world, and heaps here in Hawke's Bay.But... what is a geocache? It's a hidden container of any size. Some are tiny and contain only a piece of paper that you sign, and some are bigger and contain treasures that you can swap. The Geocache is hidden at a particular location and you have to use your mobile device to try and find it. ...

Appreciation Event

The BBBS team were truly thankful to be able to host an appreciation event on 31 May.  It was wonderful to see so many of our financial supporters, funders, donors, and service groups, those who gift us goods in kind, our Mentor Discount Partners, and our Match Sponsors in person for the first time in a very long time!  A big thank you to Karla, Manny and Hugo who shared their Match Journey over the last three years, Paediatrician and former Children's Commissioner Dr. Russel...

Match Group Outing

It was fabulous to have our mentors and mentees together for a match outing at Velocity Entertainment earlier this month. We were able to celebrate many recent match anniversaries, build whanaungatanga/relationships, create memories and share kai. Shout outs go to Velocity, a supporter of our Mentor discount programme - for hosting our event; Frucor Suntory for providing us with water and juice, and Jan (mentor) who works at T&G - for the apples! We really appreciate your support and belief in ...

Summer 2021 - 2022 Photo Comp Entries

A huge shout out to our annual sponsors:Freenergy Solar SolutionsCrafty's Rods and GunsArt Deco TrustPlease do support our local businesses, supporting us - check out our Match Sponsors below too. Mentors and mentees alike enjoy the creativity involved in our annual photo comp and we always blown away by the calibre of the photographs. This year we had a scavenger hunt theme where matches had to submit specific photos showing them:On a playgroundOn a bridgePlaying a board/card gameWith a mailbox...

Our Impact - Annual Report 2020 - 2021

It really has been a fantastic year for BBBS, all things considered.  If you would like to find out more about successes, achievements and outcomes for the financial year 1 July 2020 - 30 June 2021 have a read through our Annual Report.  There's some fantastic feedback from mentors, mentees, families and our sponsors. You can also find out about our programme statistics and outcomes that were reported after an evaluation of our surveys and reporting tools. READ OUR ANNUAL REPORT HERE...

HB Airport Supporting BBBS

We are very grateful to Stuart Ainslie, CEO at Hawke's Bay Airport CEO for kindly donating a billboard site to BBBS for the next 3 months!  We have had such positive feedback with a lot of people already having seen it. This offer was very gratefully received given that we have found billboards to be one of the most effective ways to attract new mentors to the programme. Thank you to Tania of Electric Turtle Design for putting the artwork together free of charge, and Brent and his team at N...

Women's Self Defence Network

We were very fortunate to have Brie from Women's Self Defence Network come and deliver a course to some of the girls and their mentors on our programme.The Girls’ Self Defence Programme is designed to teach the girls basic physical and verbal techniques, reinforce assertion and boundary setting skills, and offer age-appropriate information about issues of abuse for children. Games and stories were used throughout the course to reinforce discussion and the effectiveness of the skills learnt. Bo...

Trivia Night Success

It was a night of laughter, good banter and generosity with the table of Librarians taking out the top spot as Trivia Champs!  The event raised a total of $6,898.60 through tickets for the event, the raffle and auction.  We had some fantastic auction items and raffle prizes donated by local businesses and supporters of BBBS.  Brayden Coldicutt was the quiz master and auctioneer extraordinaire, his wit and charisma adding to the success of the night.The venue, Napier Marist Rugby C...

Directions - Puberty, Resilience, Anxiety Workshop

In August Vanessa and Pare from Directions Youth Health Centre kindly came and delivered a presentation to some of our mentors who have teen or almost teen aged mentees, to help equip them with some useful knowledge, tips and advice on how to be the best support for their mentees during this period of transition. They covered basics about puberty including the following factors that can affect the wellbeing of our youth: healthy vs unhealthy relationshipsIdentity Self-conscious BullyingAnxi...

Online Mentor Information Session

Was there someone special in your life that you looked up to, that gave you their time and made you feel valued? Someone who had a positive impact on your life?Now is your chance to be that person for someone else.Choose from two dates: 12pm - 1.15pm on Monday 16 August 2021OR5.30pm - 6.15pm on Monday 24 August 2021Register here for the upcoming Zoom info session of your choice. We'll send you a link to join....

Mentoring is good for the soul and our community

The rest of New Zealand envies the Hawke’s Bay lifestyle and enormous potential our region has to offer. We’re renowned for our fertile soils, excellent climate, world-class Port, and the talented and entrepreneurial people who live here. At the same time, we locals must concede that Hawke's Bay is a community in crisis. Levels of family violence and drug and alcohol abuse are frightening. Meanwhile, thousands of young people are not in employment, education, or training, it’s no wonder em...

Mid Year Group Outing 2021

Big Brothers Big Sisters Hawke's Bay mentors and mentees gathered at Super Strike Ten Pin Bowling for our bi-annual outing this June where 100 of our mentors and mentees (out of the 146 currently on the programme) came together to enjoy a morning of fun, laughter and friendly inter-match competition. This is always a great opportunity for new friendships and connections to be made, not only between mentors, but mentees too. It is often not until we hold these group outings and see so many o...