On Friday 22nd March, the Graeme Dingle Foundation hosted their first volunteer day which included over 70 staff and individuals through their incredible corporate partners. The day commenced at the Te Hōnonga a Iwi restoration site in Rosedale Park to help build a fence for a new chicken enclosure and clear pest plants.
With the Foundation’s National Office located a few roads over, this felt like a perfect opportunity to get involved with our local community and give back, just like our young people do as part of our programmes.
Volunteers were enthusiastic about getting stuck into the hard mahi of building a fence to keep pests away from the chickens who would be clearing a planting area. It was a great opportunity for everyone involved to hear more about the ongoing work at the Rosedale Park restoration and how the Foundation’s programmes contribute to environmental sustainability.
Harry Silver, the Foundation’s Business Engagement Manager was excited to share the day with our corporate partners to understand how their support for the Graeme Dingle Foundation is making a positive impact on the environment and those in our programmes.
“We believe youth are the solution. We need to invest in their ideas, initiatives, and leadership, and support them to become the drivers of the sustainable development they are already demanding. It was also a great opportunity to take action in our own backyards. Society needs to respect the natural limits of the planet and ensure the wellbeing of all people and one of the most effective ways to foster this transformation is to invest in youth.” says Harry.
Philippa Hatton, the Foundation’s National Programmes Lead manages the development of our programme’s curriculum and delivery across the country.
“Our programmes embed the values of sustainability, kaitiakitanga (guardianship), and citizenship throughout the process of experiential learning, positive youth development and projects that allow our young people to transfer their learning into action that positively contributes to their communities and the environment.” Says Philippa.
Te Hōnonga a Iwi Restoring Rosedale Park project coordinator Nicky Shave says the volunteer day is just the beginning of an ongoing partnership with the Graeme Dingle Foundation.
“We would love to get some of the young people participating in the Foundation’s programmes working on the restoration in the future.”
Te Hōnonga Iwi’s supporters and the Graeme Dingle Foundation recognise our responsibility to future generations and have a shared goal of investing in youth to develop the social equity that is imperative to mitigating climate change, Nicky says.
“Working with the Graeme Dingle Foundation enables the opportunity to develop social equity locally for all rangatahi but particularly for children from our Māori and Pasifika communities. Young people want us to do well when it comes to protecting the environment and they have great ideas. We value their input and their perspective.”
We would like to thank the following organisations for their support at the Te Hōnonga a Iwi and Graeme Dingle Foundation volunteer day:
- Argosy Property Limited
- Brightstar
- FUJIFILM Business Innovation New Zealand Limited
- ITW Construction Asia Pacific
- KPMG
- Lion New Zealand
- Schneider Electric
- Stride Property
- Sanford
To find out more, please contact Harry Silver, Graeme Dingle Foundation Business Engagement Manager, here.
If you want to keep up-to-date on progress at Te Hōnonga a Iwi (and find out if the chickens are doing a good job) or hear about upcoming public working bees, head to their website, scroll to the bottom of the homepage and subscribe to their monthly update.
