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Welcome to the November 2019 edition of the WDSA newsletter.
It's been a couple of months since our last update and Christmas is now rapidly approaching. We're sure your families are eagerly anticipating the WDSA Christmas Party on the 23rd, and the Special Children's Christmas Party on 30 November, as much as ours are.
A reminder that we have access to an advance screening of The Peanut Butter Falcon this Saturday at The Penthouse Cinema in Brooklyn at 4pm. Tickets are $20 - so if you'd like a couple, get in quick by emailing ruth@wdsa.co.nz.
The latest edition of the NZDSA Newsletter is now available too for those who are interested.
In this issue:
Frances Clarke Memorial Awards
Fundraising
Events
Resources
Other News
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FRANCES CLARKE MEMORIAL AWARDS
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Wednesday's Frances Clarke Memorial Awards were an excellent celebration of the amazing achievements of some of the superstars within our community.
Approximately 100 people turned out for the event, which was held in the beautiful ballroom at Government House and hosted by our Patron, The Governor-General, Her Excellency The Rt Hon Dame Patsy Reddy.
Guests were moved by stirring speeches from actor Jacob Dombroski, a previous winner of the over 16 year category, and Paula Tesoriero MNZM, Disability Rights Commissioner and world champion athlete.
Congratulations to our three winners: Hinerangi Collins-Mohi, Mithu Sathiyaseelan and Sue McFarlane. You can find out more about these awesome humans via our press release at scoop.co.nz.
We are so grateful to Government House for hosting this spectacular event and all the hard work by our committee members, especially Amanda Morton, to pull it off. Check out the photos on Facebook.
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Karma Keg
Queen of Jackson in Petone put on a keg of tasty Baylands' Bitter last Saturday - pub goers were invited to pay what they thought was 'karmically fair' for each pint with proceeds going to WDSA.
It was a fun way to spend a Saturday afternoon - and great to watch the kids having a blast. A huge thank you to Queen on Jackson for hosting the event (and being so accommodating while we were there!), and to Sarah Papageorgiou from WDSA for organising it. We managed to raise over $300, a pretty sweet effort for drinking beer.
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Downlights for Christmas
WDSA is now a registered fundraising organisation with Downlights Fundraising Candles. Downlights was created by Kiwis with Down syndrome as a fundraising tool. Many of you will know the story of Emma and her dad, Tony. You can read more about it here.
These handcrafted, biodegradable soy candles come in a variety of delicious fragrances and are the perfect Christmas gift with a contribution going to WDSA. It's easy:
1: visit Downlights' website
2: chose the item you wish to buy
3: select 'Organised fundraiser' from drop down box under 'Fundraising Organisation' and then add WDSA under 'Fundraising Organisation's Name' and yours/your child's name as a reference
4: add to basket
5: repeat until your basket is too heavy to lift ;)
If you live in Wellington select 'pick up from organisation' as the delivery method, we'll arrange to get your goodies to you.
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The Peanut Butter Falcon
We've been given an awesome opportunity to invite friends and family to an advanced screening of The Peanut Butter Falcon at the Penthouse Cinema in Brooklyn. This acclaimed movie isn't due to be released in NZ until later in January. The story follows Zak, a young man with Down syndrome, who runs away from a residential nursing home to follow his dream of attending the professional wrestling school of his idol, The Salt Water Redneck.
Email ruth@wdsa.co.nz for tickets ($20pp).
4pm, Saturday 16 November
Penthouse Cinema, 205 Ohiro Rd, Brooklyn
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WDSA Christmas Party
Ho Ho Ho Santa is coming! Bring the family for this fun event, we will have a place for the kids to play, sausage sizzle, jolly Christmas tunes and a visit from Christmas Fairy and Ralph the Elf from Fairy Cat and Friends. Please bring a plate and a wrapped named gift ($10 max) for the Big Man in Red to give out to your child(ren). More on Facebook.
1-3pm, 23 November
Knox Presbyterian Church, 574 High St, Lower Hutt
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Also Coming Up...
From 3 March 2020: Pub Quiz at the Sprig & Fern in Petone every Tuesday
21 March 2020: World Down Syndrome Day Disco with the JDK Dance Crew
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Wellington Early Intervention Trust
The Wellington Early Intervention Trust (commonly referred to as WEIT) is an independent charitable trust accredited by the Ministry of Education to provide early intervention services to preschool children 0-5 years from the greater Wellington region.
WEIT offers an unparalleled, centre-based programme for families who have a young child with developmental delays (physical, intellectual or behavioural). There are four specialist therapies: Music; Physio; Speech Language; and Early Intervention Teaching.
As Wellingtonians, we are incredibly lucky to have access to such an excellent early intervention service. There are a number of parents, past and present, who are willing to talk to you about their experiences at WEIT. Chat to your friendly WDSA committee to find out more.
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Thanks to everyone here who's helped us to clean up our database. We're reviewing your feedback from our survey and working on your suggestions to improve the service we deliver. Some initiatives in the pipeline include building new parent welcome packs and a fresh new website. Behind-the-scenes, we have improved our back-end systems switching to Office 365 and creating a new contact database.
We're seeking your feedback and ideas on catch-ups for older kids, young adults and older adults with DS. Would anyone out there be interested in working with us to facilitate these?
We would love to hear and share your stories and pictures via this newsletter. We're also keen to know about useful resources or services you have found that we can publish on our website and make available to other members. Email all ideas through to Andy.
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