Thumbs Up Marae Sleepover

In June the Thumbs Up crew headed to Te Tatau O Te Po Marae in Lower Hutt for a sleepover. It was fun evening with a lovely shared dinner made by Lois.  A few people went for a night walk during the evening while others enjoyed relaxing at the Marae. This was a practice run as everyone slept in one big room for the first time.  There was a choir of snorers that would wake up the lions, so we are all ready to go for our over night stay at the Zoo in November.

On the 4th of March everybody from Thumbs Up participated in the Micro Triability organised by HVDRT over at Wainuiomata. It was a great day and everyone exceeded their athletic expectations in the swim, bike and run/walk/wheel! Well done 🙂

Abi, Lois & Merryn crossing the finish line at the Micro Triability event this month

In the beginning of March Thumbs Up headed out for an adventure filled camp at El Rancho in Waikanae. We had a great time and were able to get involved in fun activities like orienteering and rafting down the river. There were a few brave ones who went down the big water slide and all of us had a turn on the trampolines and played some games of mini golf. The camp was another fantastic experience for everyone involved and was the Adventurous Journey for Daniel’s Silver and Abi’s Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Award.

After our Ski trip we were in the mood for more cold fun, so on the 22 October we went to enjoy the Dowse Ice Skating ring in Lower Hutt. For some of us it was the first time on the ice or on skates and for others a nostalgic feeling of sliding effortlessly around the corners. Luckily there were orange seals or dolphins to hold us up or to sit on. The staff at the Ice Skating Ring were very helpful and kind enough to let our wheelchair doing wheelies on the ice too!

We are very happy to be back into our Hall which has a revamped computer room, a new laundry and a large room for storage. The sensory room has been given a makeover, with a new built in desk to provide a quiet space for reading, writing or study. We have a new entertainment system put in and plenty of bean bags for relaxed Friday afternoons when everyone is winding down. The builders have been working hard and have also upgraded our side garden with a garden bed and concrete path. The whole Hall looks very sparkly, bright and fresh with new paint throughout. The renovations would not have been possible without the major support of Pelorus Trust. Thank you Pelorus, we love our new space!

We had an amazing trip to Mt Ruapehu to go skiing at the end of August. The months of planning were very worth while, everybody had a great time and got out and about in the snow. We had an action packed week filled with  walking, tramping, gum boot    throwing, hot pools, tobogganing, skiing, snow fights, building snow (wo) men and lots and lots of laughter. Thank you to all our sponsors for this awesome experience, we will remember this forever!

We have been working hard over the last few months applying for grants and getting prepared for our big ski trip in August. We have been lucky enough to receive lots of community support including two grants; one from Hutt Mana Trust for $5217 and the other from Rehabilitation Welfare Trust for $2000 towards the costs of the trip. Our young people are excited and eager to get out on the snow for tobogganing and skiing. Watch this space for photos and articles about how the trip went!

This year some of our young people entered into People’s First Card of the Year competition.

Congratulations to Abi Yogarajah who won 2nd prize in the competition. Along with the title of 2nd Place, Abi won $200 for her entry.

Well done Abi, you did a fantastic job!

Thumbs Up has been working this year with local businesses and agencies to develop an art trail along Jackson Street Petone. We launched the trail on 30th April at our Centre with an afternoon of music, mingling and yummy food!

Thumbs Up would like to extend our thanks to all the businesses that have jumped on board with the art trail and Hutt City Council Creative Communities NZ which supported this project with a grant.

Thumbs Up believes that every person wants to be a part of and connected to their communities, not only to receive support from their community but also to contribute to it. We spend more than half our time out in the community and love being so close to Jackson Street and being part of Petone. Our artists have been busy painting a large number of paintings which we are proud to present to everyone in the community. You can follow our art trail along Jackson Street and meet the wonderful people in the community that support us. Some of our paintings are on display at Thumbs Up and you are welcome to come in and look at them too.

On the back of this newsletter is a map of the art trail. The project will be running for three months so get down to Jackson Street and have a look at the amazing art work collection our young people have put together.