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Have a go days

Many of our children who are in after school care with us every day don’t get the chance to take part in sports, dance and other active pursuits. So, we decided to bring those extracurricular activities to them. With the help of Sport Hawke’s Bay Tu Manawa fund, we’re running a variety of physical activities at Raureka School as a pilot programme. First up has been Taekwon-Do sessions in term 2 and we’ve got rugby booked for the first half of  term 3. Other ideas include Kapa Haka,...

Date night free treat

Giving couples the chance for a date night without the cost of a babysitter is one way we give back. At the end of last year, our after-school care services offered free babysitting and parents took advantage of the time to go Christmas shopping or to spend rare kids-free time together. “One couple took fish and chips up Te Mata Peak and had a special date, which was their first for a long time,” says Adelle Singer, our OSCAR Manager, who was one of our team who gave her time free. Other par...

Hi 5s for outdoor adventures

Caving, canoeing, cliff traversing, camping, river crossings… all in a day’s work for our experienced outdoor education team. But for many of the kids on recent camps and day adventures, there were numerous fun firsts and new skills learnt. Adventure Club was a summer holiday programme for 11 to 14 year olds that attracted a dozen children from around the region. They met at our Hastings Pakowhai office each day and when they arrived back seven hours later we could tell they’d had a g...

Coming home for Olivia

Olivia Pierce joined us as our Youth Development Manager in December last year but she’s no stranger to YMCA and the benefits our organisation provides communities around the country. Olivia started her career with South & Mid Canterbury YMCA and loved it. Then she moved to Hawke’s Bay and found that “something was missing”, she really missed the sense of belonging she’d had at YMCA. So, she joined our Board but then the youth development position came up and she jumped at the chance t...

Chill for mental wellbeing

“Children these days lead jam-packed lives and by the end of the school term, they can be pretty tired so we’re consciously including less busy days in our holiday programmes,” says Adelle Singer, OSCAR Manager, who heads up our holiday programme team. “We think it’s important we have some time that is more relaxed, not so structured and heavily organised so children can decide for themselves how they spend their time. I love it when I see kids reading a book or just sitting together c...

Young learners climbing high

Our early learning education team has been boosted with a specialist support teacher through a Covid Urgent Response fund and our children are definitely reaping the benefits. Nisha Rani, a qualified early childhood teacher, joined our learning centre in Napier at the beginning of this year with funding through a Ministry of Education pandemic-prompted Urgent Response Funding Scheme. She has been developing behavioural plans and strategies for children with specific needs, providing support to t...

Growing great leaders

Two of our team got a huge learning opportunity and career boost when YMCA HB joined forces with Directions Youth Health Centre to give youth they work with daily outdoor experiences around the region over the summer holidays. Shannon Singer and Zach Furniss are EIT social work students and, as OSCAR Assistants, work on our holiday programmes and in after-school care when they can around their studies. When Olivia Pierce, our newly appointed Youth Development Manager, asked them to join her and ...

Learning to give back

Building strong communities is part of our mission. We’re always looking for fun ways to teach children the value of giving to others and Christmas gave us a great opportunity. “Many of our children are in care full time and have limited opportunities to be involved with community-based groups like scouts or girl guides so don’t necessarily get the chance for give-back activities,” says Adelle Singer, OSCAR Manager (our afterschool and holiday programme service). “We’re always lookin...

Abseiling

Upcoming Abseil session Wednesday 8th July 2020 at Sturms Gully, Bluff Hill.  Have a go at abseiling these school holidays.  Click here for more info...