Day 1 – On a cold but great Wellington day, fourteen 5 to 9 year olds braved the weather and attended a great holiday programme. We started the day with games and then went onto some great art activities, designing police badges which they would wear to the police museum that we visited later in the day.
The Police museum was great and we had so much fun, solving murders and finding out about the history of the New Zealand police. We then went out to Aotea Lagoon to have a play and some lunch. We ended the day at Battle hill, playing a game of soccer. All in all it was great day of fun, adventure and new friends made.
Day 2- our young people aged between 14-18 year old went out to Te Rauparaha Arena in Porirua. After setting ground rules, doing ice breakers and discovering the different strengths of the group (and making sure everyone could swim!!) we headed out to the pool. Great fun was had by all especially in the never ending river and the wave pool. After the swim, we drove to Eastbourne and went on a bush walk. This was a great experience for some of the young people who had never been to Eastbourne before.
Day 3 – We facilitated sports games such as basketball, futsal, ultimate frisbee and even some intense (but basic) cross-fit exercises at ASB stadium.
We were treated to some delicious bacon-hock soup provided by staff member Oke Time and his lovely wife, Liza Time. The young people really enjoyed the day and have asked for more events to be run during the break. We’ll see how well the staff recover from this one!
A huge thank you to the volunteers who came and supported us on these holiday programmes, who made lunches and provided baking for us all to enjoy. A big thank you also to Pelorus Trust for a grant that enabled us to provide the holiday programme, giving the young people opportunities to connect with other young people within the local community, develop new friendships and participate in a variety of recreational and developmental activities.