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Farewell Patricia

It was with mixed emotions that we farewelled Patricia in December. Patricia was an integral and invaluable member of the Big Brothers Big Sisters team, and was the spark that relaunched the Hawke's Bay branch in 2017. In her six years, she was Mentor Coordinator, Programme Manager and then Sponsorship Manager. We ended 2023 with 32 sponsored matches, all thanks to Patricia's dedication and commitment. We will miss her contributions and wish her the very best. ...

Mentee, Kaine, graduates at 18

After nine years of being matched Alasdair and Kaine have officially signed out of the BBBS programme, though they intend to keep in contact for the foreseeable future. Soon to be 18 and graduating from BBBS, Kaine says they’ve done all sorts of fun things together, but his favourite times were “sitting in a café with Alasdair and ‘chewing the fat’ over a cup of tea”. Kaine said, “Being part of the BBBS programme has added more family to my tree. The people who supported me over tho...

Match Event - End of Year Party

We celebrated our end of year mentor and mentee event by having a party at Hastings Intermediate. New Zealand Police local officers joined us and ran sports games, sizzled up some delicious snags and let the taiohi / young people check out the police cars. Shout outs go to all those who helped make it a primo day - musician (and mentor) Fraser Mack and his mentee Hunter for entertaining us, Officers Craig, Dean, Sue and Clem, Add Some Fund for their lawn games, sports gear from Sport Hawke'...

Video - EIT collaboration

We recently partnered with EIT Idea School who worked with us to create this video about Big Brothers Big Sisters. The video features Mentor David, Mentee Bailey, Bailey's mum Kristie, and Programme Manager Hayley. Check it out!...

A Fond Farewell

Matches close for a variety of reasons, and there is much to be celebrated. We enjoy meeting up with our mentees and mentors to reflect on personal growth and recap on memories. While we are always sad when a match closes, we are honoured to have had the opportunity to watch friendships develop.After five years and four months we wish Alex and Jaezahn a fond farewell. Alex is returning to Christchurch to spend time with family and support them through a difficult period of ill health.Alex moved ...

Match Event - National Aquarium

We had a whopping 80 mentors and mentees attend our mid-year event at The National Aquarium of New Zealand this past weekend. It was a fabulous opportunity for our mentors to connect with each other and our mentees to make some new friends.We are always grateful for these opportunities to grow and learn.There are some budding young biologists and scientists in amongst our BBBS mentees, and we look forward to them building on their experience at the aquarium. Thank you to Katherine...

BBBS National Hui 2023

Our team joined staff from 13 BBBS branches from across the motu in Ōtautahi Christchurch for the BBBS National Hui. The focus was on building relationships - whanaungatanga, and deepening our youth mentoring and te ao Māori knowledge.We returned to Te Matau a Māui Hawke’s Bay excited to apply some of our learnings and reset for the year ahead, feeling lucky to be part of such an awesome team, doing the mahi we do.Thank you to Gwen Malden Charitable Trust and Taradale & District RS...

Quiz Night 2023 - Book your table today!

Our annual Quiz and Auction night is just around the corner and is looking set to be better than ever!Purchase your table of 6 ($150) and fill it with friends ($25per person). Supper is included.Get in quick to secure your table at this popular event.Where: Marist Club Rooms: 9 Clyde Jeffery Drive, Poraiti, NapierDate: Friday 21 July 2023Time: 6.45 pm for 7pm startPlease bring along cash for the Cash Bar, Raffles, and AuctionInvite your friends, come along and make up a table of 6.&nbs...

Motov8 Event

Some of our BBBS boys took up the opportunity to head along to a motivational event run by Mr Motov8 (Rev). The event was all about inspiring, informing and instructing boys (and their parents / mentors / caregivers) how to make smarter and informed decisions in life.Two of our mentees - Cypris and Ayden helped out by welcoming guests as they entered the venue for the event. Ka rawe!...

Cupcakes, cupcakes, cupcakes!

Cupcakes, cupcakes, and more cupcakes!! What a blast we had at our cupcake craft day - having a chat and creating the cupcakes. Our mentees and mentors got a chance to show off their individual flare creating their marvellous keepsake cupcakes, some of which were gifted to family and friends.Thanks to Q Variety Store Hastings for their kind donation and Mentor Marie for sourcing and guiding us through the cupcake making process – what a legend!...

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...