It is my pleasure to be able to report on another successful and fulfilling year in which our little band of 7-8 people have, once again, achieved quite a remarkable amount. In this report I will touch on one or two of the highlights from the past 12 months.

Field Officer
Trish, as usual had a busy year with a full round of hospital visits and something over 60 schools visited some 2000 children and young adults spoken to. There were also many other engagements such as meetings with the Polytechnic nursing students, Occupational Therapy groups, various local companies, corporations, community groups and institutions. All together, Trish has spoken face-to-face, yet again, to upward of 8,000 or more people in the cause of burn prevention. 

Events
Our Family Day activities were organized with continued success throughout the year with venues ranging from the Te Aroha hot pools to a wonderful picnic at Pirongia Clydesdales. These events are always thoroughly enjoyed by those who attend. 

New Car Project
In July Trish and myself attended an evening with the lions district 202C and received a substantial contribution to ward the purchase of a much-needed new vehicle for our Field Officer. Trish is now able to transport the large display boards we use to promote and publicise the message of Burn Support and Prevention at venues around the region. The Lions have supported us from the very beginning and it is worth noting that this is the second car they have helped us purchase. I would like to register our great appreciation for their unflagging loyalty and support, which I take this opportunity to gratefully acknowledge.  [Presentation of cheque from Lions District 202C]

Publication of Our New Book
One of our biggest successes this year has been the publication of a very special burn prevention book, Keeping Safe, which has been published in two versions, in Te Reo Maori and English. The book is beautifully illustrated and designed for use in schools, kindergartens, Kohanga Reo's, the home and in fact anywhere children can be found. We anticipate extensive distribution throughout the country in schools, Plunket, libraries, and so on. As a matter of fact, we are at this moment, engaged in lengthy discussions with our publisher, Wendy Pye Ltd, organising and planning a "launch" for the book in June to capitalise as much as possible on it's publicity possibilities. 

In this connection I would like to make special mention and express my thanks to our honorary member, Ted Anderson, who filed the successful application to Sky City for the necessary funding of $20,000, and the sub committee, of which Ted was also a part, who supervised the entire publication process. 

The Future
Earlier this year the committee had a focus group to clarify where we should be going and what changes needed to be made to keep us viable and effective for the future. It was heartening to see that we are all still very committed to the group and to pursuing the aims as laid down in our Trust Deed. We agreed on some changes in order to facilitate these and sharpen our delivery. These were: 

• Some refining of our Schools Burn Prevention Education Programme to take advantage of some of the increasing opportunities available to us in that area.
• Consideration to be given to employing a second Field Officer to assist Trish as she refocuses more towards Kindergartens rather than all grades as she has been doing and allow her to continue to meet the need of support for individual survivors. 
• A change in the format and emphasis of our yearly burn camps

These are quite exciting decisions as we anticipate them increasing our impact on the community in the cause of burn prevention, something that continues to be so very important.

Appreciation
In closing I would like to thank the whole committee for their continued support over the preceding year. All of us lead increasingly busy lives and yet, month after month, you all manage to squeeze in the time to make your own unique contribution to our cause. Some of us have been onboard for over ten years, and yet our enthusiasm seems to remain. Let me say, your efforts are appreciated, and valued very highly. In this regard I would like to make special mention of two people on the board that share a large part of the routine work load, namely our new treasurer for this last financial year, Pam Beehan. Pam, thank you for coming onboard and for all your efforts over the last 12 months in coming to grips with this very important financial part of our business. Also, John Carlisle as our secretary has devoted a great deal of time and effort to ensure the organization runs as smoothly as it does. Nothing is too much trouble for John as he attacks all tasks with an unbridled enthusiasm and gusto. His efforts have seen us all join the electronic age with email being the preferred method of communicating, and his fund raising activities leave our accounts at the end of this financial year in a very healthy state. Then, too, there is our ever-changing web site, www.burnsupport.org.nz, which continues to be a delight to behold to one and all and a useful means of information dissemination. 


Thank you, all, once again, for your time, effort and commitment in making our Trust the success that it so obviously is.

Kind regards,
Paul Evans-McLeod
President
Waikato Burn Support
21st May 2002  [Page Top]