April 2024 North West Caregiver News

Tēnā koutou katoa,

It has been a great month of fun, interaction, and connection. To all those who attended our Foster Care Awareness Week events within the Lower North, I thank you for your participation, and to those who couldn’t I look forward to connecting with you over the remainder of the year.

I want to remind you all that your work as caregivers is truly appreciated. Huge congratulations to our Excellence in Foster Care Award recipients. As Lower North caregivers, my husband and I were able to attend the event, and it was an honour to see recipients receive their awards.

A self-care reminder…

A message I must share that I have learnt over these past couple of months is the importance of self-care. When we take time to focus on ourselves, we are refreshed and revived to continue our care journey. But that’s easier said than done; the challenges caregivers face – such as no respite care, or a child with high needs, and so on interfere with our ability to take time for ourselves, resulting in tiredness and stress. When we are in that stressed frame of mind, we tend to have a short temper and find ourselves reacting to situations that we wouldn’t normally react to. So how do you “take time for yourself” when you may not have time for yourself?

One tip I picked up on was preparing an activity for your child/ren that could last a good hour or so, once they begin that activity you can then take that time to read a book, or put on a face mask, or work on that project you’ve been wanting to work on. Or instead of being indoors on your lunch break, think of going for a walk during this time – being active improves our quality of life and encourages us to keep moving. Connecting with our support groups, training, and events are also wonderful ways to connect with other caregivers while simultaneously taking time for your mental health and well-being.

My encouragement to you all is to just start, (no matter how small it might seem), and make that one activity a priority in your weekly or monthly schedule. Over time you will see the change and the improvement to your overall well-being. At the end of the day, we do this to care for our children, so let’s show them we care by caring for ourselves too.

A quick reminder, school holidays will start Saturday 13th April and end Sunday 29th April. It is a good time to think about holiday programs, contact your caregiver social worker or PCSS for financial support.

Training

With the April school holidays coming up we have a reduced number of training workshops available at the moment, but our term two schedule is due to go live during the holidays, so check the link below to see what will be coming up in North West.

SUPPORT

As your Regional Coordinator I am available from Monday to Friday 9.00am – 5.00pm. You can call or text me on 0275010394 or email me at lowernorth@caringfamilies.org.nz. I provide support and advocacy for caregivers in need so if you want to talk or are looking for advice, feel free to contact me. I am also available at our National Office in Lower Hutt for face-to-face appointments should you like to meet. Please contact me to arrange an appointment.

You can also become a member of our closed (private) members only Facebook page, to request to join the group, CLICK HERE.