HFNZ National Family Camp
BREAKING NEWS:
The HFNZ National Family Camp has been postponed.
In order to give our members the best camp possible, the Council and staff have decided to push the National Family Camp back further into 2019. At this stage we're looking at the first weekend of the April school holidays, April 12 - 14.
This is a great chance to bring your family out to connect with others from around the country, and to do a bit of learning while you're at it. Plus. as usual, there'll be plenty of opportunities to learn, laugh, and have fun, for you and your kids. We know how valuable this event is to our people, and we'll be working hard to make sure it's the best one yet.
We'll keep you posted as new information comes to hand...
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Your New Southern Outreach Worker
Commencing in August 2018, Ross Paterson has started working as the Southern Outreach Worker for Haemophilia New Zealand. Ross is available to provide education, support and advocacy to families and individuals. He lives in North Canterbury, close to Christchurch.
Ross is a qualified social worker with extensive experience in diverse roles such as Probation Officer, Victims’ Advisor at the Court and Career Counsellor. In the latter role he worked alongside individuals who were unable to return to their previous type of employment and needed to find a new employment direction in their life.
Ross is motivated by working alongside others and helping them to find solutions to issues in their lives. He enjoys working with people across the age spectrum and in all walks of life.
Away from work Ross is an outdoors person who enjoys growing food free of pesticides and insecticides and enjoying tramps and walks in the bush / hills. He still sees magic in a seedling popping up through the ground! He values family time and catching up with friends. Reading and listening to music are other keen interests.
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2018 HFNZ AGM Weekend
The HFNZ AGM & Training Weekend in Wellington on the weekend of November 3 & 4 went very well. This was a great opportunity to get our members together to participate in the governance of the foundation, and for the council to do a little training of those elected to regional and group committees.
The weekend started with a National; Council meeting, which was followed by the AGM. There were no changes to the council executive this year, with Deon remaining president, Karl and Catriona continuing as vice-presidents, and Hemi remaining treasurer.
The training sessions continued over the rest of Saturday, and Sunday morning. This was a great opportunity for committee members to participate in the development of the next strategic plan, and to learn some new governance skills.
We also got to meet the incoming HFNZ CEO, Sue Ellis, who joined us on Sunday morning. Sue starts her role on November 14.
As you can see from the photos below, this was another great HFNZ weekend!
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Remembering Neville Findlay
 It is with sadness that we note the passing of Neville Findlay, one of life’s characters and a member of the foundation for the last decade or so, who passed away on in the early hours of the 20th of October.
Neville was one of the older men who grew up without the treatment we have today, and who's body suffered as a consequence. As with other members of his generation, HFNZ have the utmost respect for Neville's experiences with haemophilia. He was a lovely man, who enchanted all those who came into contact with him.
Recently Neville had to move from his home into a care facility due to his escalating health issues. A succession of Southern Outreach Workers kept in close contact with him throughout his convalescence, and helped to ease his transition.
Members of the Foundation may remember Neville as he was at the last HFNZ event that he attended several years ago, the 2015 Adult Weekend. By this time he had limited mobility and would install himself in his chair for the day. Despite this, Neville acted like a honeypot to bees, and people would regularly go to spend time with him, to be charmed by his dry wit, the twinkle in his eye, and his readiness to engage in conversation with anyone.
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Regional Xmas Events
It's that time of year again already, and your local HFNZ committee is putting on an Xmas event. These are always fun, and a great way to connect with members in you area. This year there's the added bonus of meeting the newly appointed CEO, Sue Ellis, who is planning to attend each event.
Here's what's on, and how you can register:
Northern & Midland - These two regions are having a combined event at Rainbow's End on Saturday Nov 17. They're meeting at the main gate at 10am. There's a bus organised for the Midland crew. For more info, or to RSVP, contact Nicky on 09 845 4658, 027 512 1114, or by emailing nicky@haemophilia.org.nz.
Central - This year the Central committee are holding a Christmas lunch at the Southward Car Museum on Saturday Nov 24 from 11:30. For more info, or to RSVP, contact Blair Wightman on 027 318 8846 or email hfnzcentral@gmail.com.
Southern - The Southern committee have organised a day out at Willowbank Wildlife Reserve on Sunday Dec 9. Lunch will be at 1pm, otherwise you're free to enjoy the park at your leisure. Entry is by ticket only. Contact Phil to find out more, or to RSVP, on 03 371 7477 or by emailing admin@haemophilia.org.nz.
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Keep your eyes peeled for...
National Family Camp
As mentioned above, the 2019 National Family Camp has been postponed to a date later in the year. As usual, we'll still run a great programme for the whole family.
We'll reopen registrations closer to the date.
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HFNZ 60th Anniversary Celebration
Remember that we have a big do planned for HFNZ's 60th anniversary celebration. The main event is on Saturday November 9 2019 at Te Papa, and there are other events being planned for the 8th and the 10th too.
There is likely to be a limit on numbers for this event, so it's a good idea to pre-register at admin@haemophilia.org.nz. This will get you early bird access to the final registration process.
Official invitations will be going out Early in 2019, so keep your eyes peeled.
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Other events in 2019
After getting together for the AGM Weekend, we also have several other events on our radar for 2019. These include:
- Various group and regional activities around the country
- Family Camp
- Youth Camp
- AGM in Rotorua
- HFNZ's 60th
All of these events are at a very preliminary stage, with no specific plans in place. We'll let you know as more details come to hand.
For any of our events you can contact head office at any time to register your interest.
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