across the - Spectrum Care

across the
spectrum
for the people, families and communities of Spectrum Care
Issue: 69 – Spring 2010
What’s inside:
■ School holiday activity programme
launched
■ A special day out for the girls!
■ Jadewynn House visits Butterfly
Creek
■ Adriatic’s mid-winter Christmas
party
■ Awesome Experiences Fun Club
– join now!
■ Craig achieves an Outcomes goal
in Rotorua!
■ Special thanks to ‘The Benevolent
Society’
■ CanTeen Bike Bash 2010
Spectrum Care’s annual ball –
’60s Flower Power
Our annual fancy dress ball – held at the Ellerslie Events Centre on Saturday 16 October – was a huge success,
with more than 550 attendees decked-out in their ‘far out’ 1960’s duds.
Hippy culture was the most popular theme, though The Avengers’ Emma Peel, Austin Powers and Sergeant Pepper’s
Lonely Hearts Club Band complemented the mix.
Spectrum Care’s annual ball is the biggest event on our social calendar, and the people we support look forward
to the opportunity to dine, dance and go all-out with their costumes each year.
Representatives from Spectrum Care’s principal sponsor Telecom also came along to enjoy the evening, going the
extra mile with some fantastic costumes.
The judging panel had great difficulty choosing the winners, as there were so many wonderful outfits, dancers and
smiles to choose from.
...continued inside
People with Disabilities Living Great Lives

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The following winners each received $100 of Westfield vouchers, courtesy
of Spectrum Care:
■ Most original costume (male): Joseph Peke
■ Most original costume (female): Maryann Taloa
■ Best dancer (male): Alex Hepburn
■ Best dancer (female): Helen Wilson
The following winners were each presented each with Apple iPods, courtesy
of Telecom:
■ Best costume (overall): Shane Booth
■ Best dancer (overall): Nathan Gardiner
■ Biggest and best smile: Sarah Collier
The following winners were awarded free memberships to the Awesome
Experiences Fun Club:
■ Most fun-loving people: Jashneel Govind and Stephanie Beazley

Craig achieves an
Outcomes goal in
Rotorua!
Craig Murray successfully achieved one of his Outcomes goals recently
by taking a holiday ‘somewhere in New Zealand’. He really enjoyed three
days and two nights in Rotorua and Taupo on Wednesday-Friday 18-20
August 2010.
He visited the ‘Craters of the Moon’, Wairaki Hot Pools, Paradise Valley Springs
and also took in the scenery around both Lake Rotorua and Lake Taupo.
Congratulations Craig!
The Coatesville team
Special thanks to ‘The Benevolent Society’
On Thursday 8 July, a group belonging to The Benevolent Society visited
The Mall to bring us a delicious morning tea. They’ve been visiting us twice
a year (in July and December) for almost 10 years.
These generous senior citizens always bring us lovely food and gifts at
Christmastime. They share great stories of their life experiences and show
an interest in what we’re doing here at The Mall.
We’d like to thank this great bunch of people for their support and kindness,
and some of the service users at The Mall had this to say of the visit:
■ Wichmond – ‘They made us feel wanted.’
■ Rodney – ‘I want them to come more often! I’d like to see them more
often!’
■ John – ‘Thank them for visiting us every year.’
■ Leanne – ‘I appreciate the special morning tea they brought to us.’
■ Chuong – ‘Always good, every year.’
■ Craig – ‘Always good to have them here.’
■ Gail – ‘I love those great folks and the wonderful food!’
■ Phillip – ‘They’re very nice and friendly.’
Thank you once more to The Benevolent Society for their generosity – we
truly appreciate it!
The Mall team
Awesome Experiences Fun Club – join now!
The Awesome Experiences Fun Club is a social club that caters to
people with disabilities and is run for and by its members.
We’re keen to build the membership and
encourage you to pass on both the brochure
and membership form to the people
we support.
Both can be downloaded by visiting
the Spectrum Care website
(www.spectrumcare.org.nz) and
clicking the link ‘Clubs and Fun’.
vision:
people with disabilities living great lives
values:
person centred
Responsive to the person; individualised services and support
innovation
Pioneering and looking for better ways
commitment and passion
Creating and maintaining a high-performance culture, where we are
passionate about what we do
partnership
Working successfully together with others, valuing each other’s
contribution
excellence
Leading the way

School holiday activity
programme launched
We’re pleased to announce that Spectrum Care now offers a School
Holiday Programme.
Previously run by the Waitemata District Health Board, through The
Wilson Centre, the school holiday programme is targeted at children
and young people between the ages of 5-16 years with disabilities and
is run from three sites across Auckland – including The Wilson School
in Takapuna, Freyberg School in Te Atatu and Sir Keith Park School in
Mangere.
Families can access this service via Taikura Trust, which then sends
us a referral, as with other respite services.
The programme runs for two weeks during every school holidays, as
well as two weeks during the Christmas break. The activities include
a combination of onsite and community based activities, with the
programme aimed at replicating a mainstream holiday programme as
much as possible.
The programme will be run as part of the Community Development
Team, with the Home Support Service Coordinators assisting, alongside
three programme leaders and a team of community support staff.
If you’re interested in accessing this service for a child with a
disability, please contact Heather McGill – Community
Development Service Manager, ph 634 9790 or email Heather at
heather.mcgill@spectrumcare.org.nz.
A special day out
for the girls!
Three girls from the Seabrook Aspirations Centre had their first ‘Girls’
Day Out’ recently. It was attended by Jemima Ahern, Juanita Ruakawa
and Julie May.
The three girls had an excellent day out, being pampered by the lovely
trainees at the Manukau Institute of Technology while having their
hair done.
Jemima and Julie chose to have their hair washed, cut and blow-dried,
while Juanita decided to send those beautiful curly locks of hers straight
with a wash, cut and thermal straightening.
They all looked like beauty queens by the end!
To finish the day off, the girls stopped off at the park on the way back
to have their lunch. This was a great day and we’re hoping to do it all
again sometime next month, with the girls having a make-up day.
Thanks again to Sean (Outcomes Broker) for making all this happen
for us. We’ve had great feedback from the parents as to how lovely
their girls looked and they were really pleased with the result.
Victoria Findlay – CSW
Heather McGill – Community Development Service Manager

Jadewynn House visits Butterfly Creek
The residents of Jadewynn House recently made a trip to Butterfly Creek
and were most interested in all the animals on show.
The tropical butterfly house is maintained at a balmy 28 degrees and,
as well as beautiful butterflies and flowers, there’s also a turtle pond.
The crocodiles are housed in the next building – two large animals, plus
various juveniles.
A little train takes you around the property and there’s an easy-access
farmyard area with rabbits, bantams, guinea pigs, alpacas, a cockatoo
and lorikeet, pigs and goats.
There are plenty of seats around the exhibit areas for the less-able to rest.
There’s also disabled parking at the door, with the entrance cost being $7.50
(caregivers are free).
Excellent food is available at the onsite cafe and there’s a shop for souvenirs.
To get there, simply drive to the airport and, as soon as you see the domestic
terminal ahead, turn left. It’s clearly signposted about 200m up this road
and there’s a McDonalds very close as well, if you want an ice cream after
your visit!
Carolyn Sutherland – CSW
Adriatic’s mid-winter Christmas party
Held on Sunday 22 September, Adriatic’s mid-winter Christmas party was a great success.
The residents – Alastair, Mahui, James and Thomas – had been anticipating the Christmas party for some months and the prospect
of the parents attending was their number one highlight.
The boys had been working hard on a ‘James Bond’ musical play to present, including three rehearsals. The day began with expert
food preparation by Cheryl Scott, complemented by BYO dishes and the willing help of the boys and staff.
Once the buzz of conversation between parents, staff and boys had subsided into eating, the decks were cleared for the James
Bond play.
The lead actor, James Holman, played James Bond and looked very suave with his bow tie
and martini glass (“Shaken, not stirred...”).
The plot unfolded with Metal Man (played by Thomas Tolley) turning Dr Evil (played
by Hans) into gold and saving the world. A cameo role of ‘M’ was played by
Mary Jane to the music of ‘Pretty Woman’.
One highlight was the Tongan secret service agent (played by Mahui Fotu),
being joined by his mum for a Tongan dance (pictured left). The play ended
with everyone doing the Macarena, except for Dr Evil who was still solid gold.
Thanks to all the parents attending, Daryl Benge, Christine Cleave and the
Adriatic staff (The A-Team) and, of course, the boys who made this a very
special time.
Next year a Rambo play Or perhaps The Incredibles!

CanTeen Bike Bash 2010
Held in Pukekohe on Friday 15 October 2010, the ‘CanTeen Bike Bash –
Franklin’ was a resounding success and the seventh annual fundraiser for
the charity.
Spectrum Care was one of three title sponsors of the event and also fielded
the ‘Spectrum Care Sunflowers’ team, made up of the people we support,
as well as CSWs, Outcomes Brokers, Service Coordinators and friends,
which aimed to keep the wheels of a stationary bike moving for 12 hours.
Tana Umaga and the Counties-Manukau Steelers attended, along with their
mascot ‘Steely Dan’, before they headed off to Christchurch to play
Canterbury for the Ranfurly Shield.
The total raised on the day was over $36,000, which is a fantastic result
for the charity, especially considering the difficult economic climate. The
total exceeds that raised last year by more than $12,000!
The CanTeen bike bash has become a fixture on Spectrum Care’s annual events
calendar, with our people looking forward to it each year with great enthusiasm.
Well done to Thorn Road, Delta, Fair Oaks and Elizabeth Street for getting
involved. Also, thanks to Fiona, Sean, Jamie and Justin Horan for making
it to the event and riding in our team. An extra special acknowledgement
goes to Kelly Cozens from Thorn Road who was there at 7am to get our
team going and was last on the bike at 8pm when the Bike Bash finished.
She spent the whole day there supporting our team, cheering everyone
on and generally being amazing!
The ‘CanTeen Bike Bash – Franklin’ wouldn’t be possible without the
unfaltering commitment and energy of Julie-Anne Quinney and Surinder
Edwards. It’s a privilege to support not only a great cause, but also two
wonderfully giving, selfless individuals.
“Both Spectrum Care and CanTeen are founded on the vision of supporting
people to live great lives, regardless of the challenges they may face. We’re
always very excited to be part of the CanTeen Bike Bash and look forward
to having fun together and giving it our best – because life is for living!”
– Spectrum Care.
Across the Spectrum available by email. Register now!
As part of achieving Spectrum Care’s ongoing vision of ‘people with disabilities living great lives’, we’re constantly looking for opportunities to streamline
our activities and provide higher-quality support to our service users.
To this end, Across the Spectrum is now available via email, with the aim of making more resources available to support our service users in living great lives.
If you’d like to receive Across the Spectrum by email, please send your email address to: newsletter@spectrumcare.org.nz, or simply go to our website
(www.spectrumcare.org.nz) and join our mailing list in one easy step.