Here at Neighbourhood Trust, we are so excited by the new programme we are able to get started thanks to a grant from the Air Rescue and Community Services Trust. It's called 'Shake that Quake Weight'. Last year we were wondering what we could do to help the people of Christchurch, dealing with all the stress and ending up putting on weight, which none of us wants to do. Sally Rossiter, who has been one of the people running the Appetite for Life classes here put her thinking cap on and came up with a brilliant programme that gives on-going support to people in a holistic approach to weight management.

Have a look at the programmes page. This course has it all - individualised eating plans, menu planning, help with what to buy, how to cook it, encouragement, exercise in the form of circuits and pilates. Numbers are strictly limited for the nutrition side of it, so don't delay if this is something you've been thinking about. This is a long-term programme to change eating habits and get you fit for life!

I'm so bad at this blog stuff.  I don't know about you, but the days go by in a bit of a blur with streams of people coming through and so much extra happening.

I have been loving the sunshine, though.  We had a fantastic day for Mairehau Community Day at Mairehau High School.  A great venue and very open to the public passing by who made good use of the fun activities, yummy food and fun activities.

Next on the list is the memorial Service of Hope tomorrow evening at various venues throughout the city.  I'll be at St Albans Baptist, which will combine with a number of other church groups. Good to take the time to reflect.

Then there's Parenting Week - check out the programme on this website and get your tickets on-line.  We think we've got an amazing line-up, with quality speakers on so many aspects of being a parent.  If you're a mum, don't miss Karyn Riley speaking on 'Mum Guilt' - I don't think I've met a mum yet, who doesn't feel guilty about making time for herself! And if you're on your own raising sons, Anne Harvey is a gem. She will give you some excellent tips and strategies in dealing with your growing males.

Well, we are back to this horrible wobbly, shakiness again. How are you all doing?  For me, I'm back to ridiculously tired.  Talking with people, quite a few a dispirited with the silt removal a problem again and fears that there are more to come.

I hope this rain is not causing more issues for you with flooding - apart from that it's quite nice to have an excuse to not do too much.

There are some nice patches amongst all this.  At Neighbourhood Trust, which is based at St Albans Baptist, we needed to get a structural engineer in to check out the building  before inviting the public in.  This caused a bit of a problem as our drop-in lunch continues to run on Wednesdays and Thursdays and we didn't want to let anyone down by not providing some food and company. Brainwave!  We did a BBQ and soup lunch outside under the gazebo. Fortunately it was a totally gorgeous day with sun shining brightly and barely no wind.  We all enjoyed getting a bit of sun on us and pretending it was a summer picnic. Even newcomers pitched in with turning the sausages and putting out chairs and everyone chatted away to each other.  I love the family feel of these drop-in lunches - noone ends up sitting on their own and smiles and waves as people come and go are order of the day.

Ever wake up with a brilliant idea at 3am?  Ever sit around with friends drinking coffee or wine and come up with the a bright idea?  Why not share them with your neighbourhood?

We want to hear all your ideas of what would make your neighbourhood even better. Text Ginny on 027 746 5168 if you live in Mairehau/St Albans or txt Felicite on 027 6551 996 if you live in Shirley.

I'm so glad to have a replacement for our staff member who resigned earlier this year.
Kim Button was appointed and began last week in the role of Neighbourhood Services Coordinator and she will continue to develop the Golden Connection programme for older adults, as well as help with advocacy for individuals and run community events.  Welcome, Kim.

Angela Sanderson-Wright will start on 9th May in the role of Support Worker (Family services).  We are all looking forward to he coming on-board.

We have a fantastic team here, with Allison Alexander, who has been responsible for developing the OSCAR programmes and has initiated the new Big Kids Holiday Programme this year; Wendy Green, who stepped up into the role of Community Service worker after the earthquake and coordinated door knocking and meals and clean water going out into the community and Emma Roberts who is assisting in the Support Worker (Neighbourhood Services) role.

The secret weapon, of course, is the 126 volunteers who lead teams, visit people, organise programmes, help with mail outs, set-up programmes and facilitate groups, do our payroll, assist with MYOB, take people shopping, pick them up and drop things off and hundreds of other tasks.  Without these amazing people who freely give of themselves and their time, we could not do half of the things Neighbourhood Trust is able to do.

Thank you to everyone who contributes to the work of Neighbourhood Trust to make our community great.

What a journey we are all on!  I can't imagine what it must be like for those who have loved family members or friends on top of all the difficulties we are facing.  We grieve for you and for our broken city.  The only way I can think of to show this is to work hard to restore our city as a living memorial to the past and a brighter future for the next generation.

I think we are all tired, a bit sad, determined, frustrated and generally pushing on through the best we can.  I'm encouraging people to take a break away if they possibly can, or do something nice for themselves at the least. We need some lifting up from the dust and silt.

At St Albans Baptist, we have been fortunate to have almost finished building extensions that are light and airy, able to be opened up for use by a variety of groups. 
If you feel like meeting up with others in nice surroundings and enjoying a yummy lunch, pop in on Wednesdays or Thursdays, between 12 - 1.30pm.  Bring your friends. We will eventually get round to putting in a donations box, but you are welcome to just come and enjoy.
 
During March we were open for lunch every day and just loved having the opportunity to share with others in our community.  For April (and probably May), we have reduced the days to Wed/Thurs, as many of our lovely volunteers who were helping in the kitchen have gone back to work.  We salute Pam Ashby, who worked tirelessly all through this time, planning and providing tasty food for the 30 - 55 people who arrived each day (620 meals in Feb/March) and to Peter Larsen who ran the drop-in. Thanks to Baptist Ministries for financially supporting this initiative.

I'm proud of the amazing people who formed the teams who went out each day to shovel silt, fix doors and windows, stabilise chimneys and generally clean up people's properties.  Thanks to William Drury-Turnbull and Geoff Chambers who coordinated this side of the operation.

Wendy Green is a legend around here, stepping into a role of coordinating a massive door-knocking programme to over 5,500 homes in the the worst hit part of Shirley/St Albans.  Our fantastic volunteers took out water and food before power went back on, listened to people's stories, and filled out Ministry of Social Development forms to help map what is happening in our community.  We are still going walking around Mairehau, checking how people are and letting them know we are here to help.  If you need help with transport to go shopping or to get to an appointment, give Wendy a ring on 355 6522.

We are really missing our Support Worker (Lyn Jones) who moved to Shanghai with her family at the end of last year. 
We have re-vamped the Job Description for this role as we see the need to expand our family services.  If you have good computer skills and some experience or training in human services or social work and looking for a 15 hour position, term time, we'd love to hear from you. We are a Christian organisation, so you must be able to work under and support this ethos.

Job Descriptions and application forms are available by emailing ginny@nht.org.nz

Wow - isn't amazing how holidays just disappear?

I came back to work this week and bang, straight into everything - The Mairehau, Parenting Week planning, KiwiMums planning, funding, holiday programmes etc etc and in the middle of this I'm a granny again - yay.
Makes me think again how precious those little ones are and we should be doing everything possible to make sure they have the chance to grow up well and know they are loved and valued. Let's make 2011 the year we really work together to make it happen for our whanau.

Parenting Week is a great opportunity to gain new skills.  Having had 3 children who are now all adults, I wish I'd learnt some of the strategies these speakers are able to offer years ago.  We'll be putting a programme up very soon - just waiting on a few people to finalise venues and times.

Christmas hampers is one of the really cool things happening at present at Neighbourhood Trust. The people of St Albans Baptist have been bringing along items of food  and donations of cash, and volunteers spent time sorting the food and buying other goods to go in the hamper boxes.  Thanks to Wainoni Pak'n'Save for their donation too.
Now we just have to deliver them! But that's the fun part - feel a bit like Santa.

We're gearing up for the Christmas Eve tea and Community Carol service now. The tea starts at 6pm and is just a gold coin donation - if you want to come along, you need to book for catering purposes.  Not many places left, so be in quick.  The Community Carol service should be a great time. Ali and I are going to have tables up the back for the kids to get creative and ice gingerbread men and make baskets.  Even if you can't make it to the tea, why not bring the family to the 8pm service and get in the spirit of Christmas.  You know they won't go to sleep early anyway.

I can't believe there are still places left in the Appetite for Life course.  It's brilliant in giving easy steps to control the weight gain and you get to try new foods. This is the last chance for the year to go on this course.  Give it a go and ring 355 6522 to book.