Kia ora North West Caregivers,

We welcome winter this month, and as much as I love the crisp air, warm porridge, and winter sports, I admit I do not look forward to the sore throats, runny noses, and earaches, so I hope you and your whānau are managing to keep warm and well!

SHARING PACE WITH MY CHILDREN

“If only I had known about this sooner!” A common phrase I hear from caregivers who have taken our training, and one I find myself saying a lot lately. When there’s moody behaviour, disrespect and meltdowns in my whare (home), I’m thankful for what I have learned from our training as it gives me something to turn to.

Recently Mr. 7 and Mr. 8 decided to get up at around 5:30am to make their lunch, have breakfast and play. Our rule is no one up till 7am, because we know how dysregulated they’re going to be by the end of the day. Kids need sleep! The noise woke up Miss 16, who tried to send them back to bed. I woke to their noise and tried to get them back to sleep. By now they were screaming and play fighting and it’s not even 6:30am! So we all started the day feeling tired and irritated. For my tips on how I PACEfully dealt with the situation, click below!

Training

Making Changes: Stability in Hard Times

Date and Time: Tuesday 25th June, 9:30AM-1:00PM

Location: Community House, 122 Leach Street, Central New Plymouth

Details: This training is focused on caregivers, your self-care and how to manage and make it through challenging times in your caregiver journey. Refreshments will be provided.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER.

Foundations For Attachment

This course consists of four full-day sessions over two weeks, providing the tools you need to become a therapeutic parent and nurture the relationship with tamariki in your care. If your child has experienced trauma and is struggling to form a healthy attachment and emotional connection, then this course will help you to understand what is going on behind the behaviour and their hidden needs from a trauma perspective.

This course is great for first time caregivers, those who are new to therapeutic parenting, or experienced caregivers who are currently providing support to other caregivers and want to strengthen their knowledge base.

Each session is from 9am – 3pm

Dates are 11th, 12th, 18th, 19th of June (Tuesday and Wednesday)

Location: Chancellor Motor Lodge and Conference Centre, 131 Fitzherbert Avenue, Palmerston North.

Morning tea will be provided.

Caregivers who are under Oranga Tamariki can claim reimbursements for Travel.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO AND TO REGISTER

For all our online training this June you can click below!

EVENTS

I’m looking forward to hosting a fun pool evening for caregiving whānau in New Plymouth later this month! Join us for a splash around in the pool, followed by Subway and hot chips. This will be a laid back evening for caregiving whānau to connect and enjoy an evening of fun on us!

Date and Time: Monday 24th June, 4:00PM-7:00PM

Venue: Todd Energy Aquatic Centre, 8-10 Tisch Avenue, New Plymouth

RSVP to me at lowernorth@caringfamilies.org.nz

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.

Whanganui Support Group – Expression of Interest.

We are keen to get a support group up and running in the Whanganui area! We are currently thinking about hosting it on Saturday afternoons but are open to hearing what would work best for you.

If you are a caregiver based in the Whanganui area and would be interested in being part of this support group, please reach out to me at lowernorth@caringfamilies.org.nz.