Welcome to the home page of
Father & Child Trust – Auckland branch
We’re open!
Come and see us in our new office at the Onehunga Community Centre Te Pito ō te Iwi Whaanui, 83 Church Street, Onehunga, Auckland – next to the Library
Drop in for information, help, a chat and a cuppa, or to introduce us to your new baby.
We’d love to see you anytime between 10 am and 2pm Monday to Friday in the Henderson Room.
Also on this page
- How to contact us
Mauri Ora Fathers Circle
Auckland news
How to contact us
If we can be of help please contact
Brendon Smith
Phone:09 525 1690 Mobile:021 892 980
Email:brendon@fatherandchild.org.nz
or
Peter Benzie
Phone:09 525 1690 Mobile: 027 243 9363
Email:peterb@fatherandchild.org.nz
Or you can reach us by mail at:
PO Box 11931
Ellerslie
Auckland 1542
Mauri Ora Fathers Circle meetings
Every Wednesday we welcome all to our Mauri Ora Fathers Circle. We aim to provide a safe place for any fathering issues and strengthen our collective fathering abilities.
7.30pm, Onehunga Community Centre, 83 Church Street, Onehunga, Auckland – next to the Library – ph 525 1690.
We hope to see a few new faces, any local fathering advocates or dads who are keen to contribute to the new Auckland committee. Children are welcome, though we do usually leave them in front of a TV with a tin of biscuits!
For recent topics discussed during Mauri Ora Fathers Circle meetings see here.
Auckland Activity Summary – July 2009
Central Auckland Barnardos have encouraged us to contact all Barnardos teams and share our message and resources. We are part of the publicity and event coordinators for Waitakere City’s Focus on Fathering Week. The series of events leading to fathers day celebrations requires, local news and regional awareness.
We have a start date August 18th for the Waitakere Teen Dads Support Program with HealthWest, ChangeWorks and Barnardos in Waitakere City. This is the first teen father support project in Auckland.
Child Youth and Family at Youth Justice North engaged us to provide two sessions on Healthy Choices re Fathering. Based on positive feedback, plus our work in Christchurch, we have designed and submitted a 4-6week program proposal and await their decision.
This program helps young men appreciate the changes in lifestyle, relationships and commitments required to be a good father. Our research and experience, along with the Barnardos teen dads survey and Changeworks course and related workshops which have been used, lead us to believe that these courses lead to long term improvements.
We are being contacted for information and resources by many groups, ManAlive in Henderson, IRD in Whangerei and a counselling for couples after separation crew in Hamilton. As the printing of magazines for New Babies is currently halted awaiting funding, plus there are limits on our ability to print Dads and Babies booklets in bulk, with Auckland we are struggling to keep up.
Our Auckland office has been busier than usual in a number of ways. Our telephone support commitment has seen new clients weekly and a Mauri Ora Fathers group has been running since February. Activity has continued to increase, at all hours, during the period that our New Babies Edition – Father and Child magazines were distributed via the Bounty Packs.
We are also being asked to consider alternative advertising or sponsorship options for our New Babies magazines, which will concede some of the independence, credibility and product association preferences we were aiming to achieve. We hope that funders
appreciate our gratitude for their type of support before we have to concede.
We receive a number of calls from Citizens Advice and similar offices, so need to produce and print regular leaflets, flyers, correspondence and meeting notices.
Auckland Coming Out …
On the 2nd of March, 2008 Father and Child Trust Auckland, ‘came out’ in public. The event was the Toddler Day Out at Waitakere’s Trust Stadium. We were convinced that it was a better networking event than the Teddy Bear’s Picnic. In the end, we were lucky that another Trust helper attended Auckland’s usually more popular, domain based fun day.
After meeting and being given a handy sand-pit, by Annie Gordon of Barnardos, one of the organisers, we knew our visitors would be able to chat, while the toddlers built castles. With a giant bouncy Castle and busy dance and activity stage, the fun was everywhere, and we struggled to keep up with the visitors. Among the Dads and mums were other stand representatives who had noticed us. We got a lot of ‘finally’ and ‘thank-goodness’.
At one stage, we were visited by the Prime Minister Hon. Helen Clark, who asked. ‘And who are these people?’ to which I replied ‘We are the Father and Child Trust, we aim to educate and encourage all Dads. The PM replied quickly ‘Well, you encourage them to take up their paternal leave, now, if they want it.’ and I said ‘Yes, thanks.’
Then, her assistant noticed my buddy Ian, recently returned from Australia, mainly to live here while he brings up his children, with his baby asleep on his shoulder, beside me. They had to take the opportunity, three fast grins were assumed and the flash went pop!
We were glad to be noticed, but I was not sure if I wanted to be seen in that photograph. In fact, we met so many good contacts it needed to be a special person to stand out. Then, when Eva Scherer first met me, within a few minutes, she had me happily being photographed outside her pink drop tent and then smiling, sitting right inside!
There I had been, feeling reluctant in a photo–opp. with a VIP, yet happy to be pink?
AK Report April 2008
After printing and distributing flyers and posters, plus advising the local papers, we had around twelve people attend our initial meeting, including several keen committee members.
Between my introduction and Harald’s explanation of the Trust’s background, we answered many questions and felt confident of a need for our services in Auckland.
We attended the Toddler’s Day Out, March 2nd Waitakere City, we met many people, we were very busy, sharing our flyers, magazines and booklets, always running out!.
At one stage, we were visited by the Prime Minister Hon. Helen Clark, a lady from Poland who runs the Child Connection Trust, Plunket, Parents Centre and other west Auckland representatives from Barnardos, Porse and many Kindergartens
We also attended the Teddy Bear’s Picnic at the Domain, thanks to Paul Catton, and it was noted that with so many punters, we should be there next year as well.
We recently attended the Onehunga Fair, Sat 5th April, meeting more important contacts and potential new members, plus we heard the Mayor John Banks say what a great day it was as he stood within 8m of a where a new motorway runs,
We also attended the Onehunga Community Services Group meeting, spoke briefly and outlined our intentions, met several new contacts and shared flyers.
Our next meeting was at Onehunga Community Center, next to the library and a very new, well presented building. We had four new members including two from the previous meeting, including Eva the Child Connect lady. We enjoyed her outline and agreed to write an article on her program.
The demand for flyers has seen our limited supply run out completely, our next batch of 200 expected this week will almost certainly be exhausted right away.
I have heard from a West Health nurse met with the intention of setting up a teenage dad support program. He has had several questions answered by Harald and is holding a meeting in Early May. I also met a west Auckland Plunket lady who is trying to encourage a few young dads in Glen Eden.
From the start of next school term, ie Mon 5th May, we will invite solo or young dads to a Jingle and Jive song and dance event for toddlers. For $5 they can come along, participate and have tea afterwards.
There are similar sessions in the library on Thursdays so we expect a bit of cross-over promotion but we need to advertise and promote it too. I see this as a great way to involve local fathers and potential helpers.
We have set 5th May for our next meeting and expect a few new members.
While the next visit from Harald will be later in May and should allow us to have a New Babies magazine launch in Auckland, there may not be time to arrange a Dads and Babies Talk, as being held in Palmerton North, but I hope Harald can meet the Parents Center people and agree on a date.
As you may have heard, we were awarded approx $8k from Lotteries for event, salary and office costs.
Inaugural Meeting – March 2008
About a dozen fathers responded to Father & Child’s Auckland Regional Coordinator Brendon Smith’s call to form an Auckland committee. The Trust plans to build a viable local branch eventually providing services similar to those available in Christchurch and has received some support from funders for the initiative.
The meeting, which was held at Onehunga Community Centre, aimed to be the first step in a strategy that sets goals for the Trust in Auckland over the next year.
