Field Officer's Report to AGM 2001

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The big highlight for the group has to be the wonderful vehicle we have purchased with the help of the Lions of 202C. Our up grade to a station wagon is more suitable for transporting display boards. It is a 1996, blue, Toyota Scepter, with 43, 000k km on the clock. 4 Guys Auto barn, where we purchased the vehicle are supporting us as well so we have displayed their logo alongside the Lions. It is a lovely vehicle to drive and the sign writing stands out even better than the other car.

Our largest donation this year came from the Frankton Rotary for the “Fit for Life” relay. Teams entering the relay were sponsored by different organisations and the proceeds were to go to two organisations, ourselves and the Cancer society. We received 
$2, 691.25.

Our annual camp was once again a tremendous success. Held at the Karakariki Christian Camp, Raglan, we had 52 campers registered. It was great to see new families attending along side the Old Faithfuls. Having the bouncy castle for the day helped with keeping the little ones entertained. Map reading and Orienteering had us all very focused. I don’t think we would have got through the day without the swimming pool, which was a great favourite as the weather was very hot. 
Click the thumbnail to see a larger pic of the Burn Camp 2001 Group Photo.

Everyone had a great time on the lake with the kayaks, some fell in or were pushed! Indoor climbing had even the little ones participating and what a great sight it was to see Clinton Davis climb with one arm! 

The magic show was entertaining as always with magician John Martin and all those  balloons made into any animal the children wanted - great! 

Our group discussions were once again a success. The bush walks and a swim at the waterfall took most of Sunday morning then lunch and farewell till next year.

It was nice to help fund one of our nurses in ward 7 to attend the ANZBA conference in Perth in September.  We had a good report back from her on the ideas they had. 

The donkey farm on the Gordonton Road was a lot of fun with the lovely fairy costumes the children could dress up in even the little boys thought it was great. As always we finished up with one of our lovely BBQ’s.

Waingaro Hot Pools in June was a fun filled day but maybe the weather put a lot of people off. Ten Pin bowling in August was also great fun, although I was unable to attend. Every one turned out for the Hill dale Zoo Family Day in October which was a great success. 

To finish off the year we had our Xmas party at Innes Common at the Hamilton Lake with Santa giving out lollies and balloons.

We had a few static displays throughout the year. Three were at Enderley Park Community Center and a very large one at Huntley with all the various organisations like St John’s, Fire Service, Police and Victim Support all in attendance.   Click the thumbnail to see a larger pic of our display set up at Huntly.

The poster competition ran through the 2nd half of the school year and once again all the schools participated with the winners collecting their $50 prize and the schools their  contribution as well. The posters were displayed at Chartwell Square for the school holidays and are also available to view on our web site at 
www.burnsupport.org.nz.  

My speaking engagements for our Schools Burn Prevention Education Programme continue to keep me busy and must be working as we don’t see as many school age children in the ward as we used to. Something which makes it all worth while.

The Polytechnic have invited me to speak five times a year to their nursing students on what burn survivors and their families go through, showing also that we can go on to lead happy and fulfilled lives despite what are sometimes very obvious body or facial disfigurements. I conclude these talks by demonstrating how burn support groups, such as ours, can play a very important role in the rehabilitation of a burn survivor and their family.

Once again we have been very fortunate with our grants from WEL Energy and the HFA. These grants enable us to provide resources for all our Programmes.

In conclusion I would like to thank the committee for the help they have given me over the year. 

Lets keep the good work going.

Trish Ball
Field Officer.
April 24th 2001