NEWS & UPDATES

News and info from the Cerebral Palsy Society

06 Apr 2022

Kia ora koutou katoa,

We hope this email finds you and your whānau safe and well.
We just wanted to take a moment to share a few updates from the Society with you.

Anna Mackey: Project Manager – Cerebral Palsy Research

Please join us in welcoming Anna Mackey to the position of Project Manager – Cerebral Palsy Research.

Anna reports to Starship Orthopaedics and contracts to the Cerebral Palsy Society. She started her new role on Monday, and will be critical to the establishment of a long-term relationship between the NZ Cerebral Palsy Register and the Society. Anna will help ensure that the range of CP within the Society’s membership is represented in future research projects, especially different ages, stages and types of CP.

“I hope to use my networks to help build sustainable connections for people with lived experience of Cerebral Palsy and the wider health sector, to deliver more meaningful and equitable outcomes for people in Aotearoa New Zealand.”

You can read more about Anna on our website.

We’re thrilled to have you in this role Anna. Welcome aboard.

Renata Kotua: Member Support and Programme Coordinator – Youth & Young Adults

We’re delighted to be welcoming Renata Kotua back to the Cerebral Palsy Society – this time in an operational role!

Many of you will know Renata’s name – she joined the CP Society Board in October, 2020 and served as Vice President until November 2021 when she stepped up to the role of Co-Chair/President.
She resigned from that role in February 2022 and now joins us as our Member Support and Programme Coordinator – Youth & Young Adults.

Renata will be based in the Manawatū and is looking forward to connecting with members in the Manawatū and lower North Island.

Welcome to the team Renata.

The CP Society’s office

After being based in Newmarket for four years, the Cerebral Palsy Society Board and Management have decided to close its Auckland office. All staff are now working from home.

The decision was made following the successful running of the organisation during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Board Chair Meg Smith says the lockdowns over the past two years proved that services to members could still be provided to a high standard, and with minimal disruption (except for the disruptions that were out of our control, caused by Covid-19).

“Ending the lease on the office will generate a significant financial saving for the organisation – which the board and staff look forward to redirecting to members,” Meg says.

GOOD NEWS – the closure of the office doesn’t stop us from catching up face-to-face!

Any members who want to meet in person in Auckland or Christchurch, and in the near future Manawatū or Wellington (where we have, or will have, a staff presence) are encouraged to get in touch.

We’re more than happy for a staff member to come to your home or meet you at a café.

Extending our staff presence across various regions will enable us to improve access to in-person services for more members in more locations outside of Auckland, including in-person Trike and Total Mobility assessments.
We can come to you, or arrange a suitable meeting point to carry these out.

If you have any queries about how the closure of the office affects you, please do get in touch.
You can call us on 0800 503 603 or email us at cpsociety@cpsociety.org.nz.
All staff are contactable vias email or phone – all our details are here.

Connecting Over Coffee – March

Thank you to everyone who joined us for our first Connecting Over Coffee last Wednesday morning. We had a great turn out and a really informative session with Liam Sanders and Simon Anderson from Manawanui talking about Individualised Funding (IF).

If you missed the session, you can watch it here using this passcode: !F6?YQ57

If you want to get in touch with Liam to talk about your personal circumstances feel free to reach out – he’s more than happy to hear from you.

Liam Sanders, Relationship Manager
Phone – 0272281678
Email – liam.sanders@manawanui.org.nz

To learn more about Manawanui go to their website.

Connecting Over Coffee – April

Our next Connecting Over Coffee session will be on Wednesday April 27 at 11am. We’ll be joined by Jen from The Adaptive Yogi for a yoga session.

Jen lives with a disability and says her aim is to help people achieve connection, body peace and acceptance in a judgment-free yoga zone.

“Variations will be offered if any of the physical Yoga poses are a challenge – there is always a way to Yoga! Yoga is about connecting to your body and breath – not about what you can and can’t do – so if you can breathe – you can take part!”

There’s more information about The Adaptive Yogi and Connecting Over Coffee on our website. You can also see what we have planned for the coming months.

We’d love you to join us.

Amy Hogan: Board of Directors – AusACPDM

Congratulations to the CP Society’s Researcher and Member Support Advisor Amy Hogan. Amy has been elected to the Board of Directors for The Australasian Academy of Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine (AusACPDM).

Amy’s looking forward to collaborating with colleagues internationally to better understand CP and work for change in the community. She’s interested in topics such as pain research, adult experiences of exercise and staying well, Alternative and Augmented Communication (AAC) and establishing resources for diverse types of CP.

You can read more about Amy and the AusACPDM here.

Volunteer Grants Committee Member – Therapist

We are on the lookout for a therapist to join the Cerebral Palsy Society’s Grants Committee.

The committee of four volunteers oversee and assess our Individual, Academic and Organisation grants and meets monthly (except in January).

We are looking for a therapist who provides services to those living with CP, to fill the vacancy of the “committee member position to be held by a therapist”.

More information about the committee, the position and applying can be found on our website.

Please share this volunteer role with anyone you know who might meet the criteria and be interested in joining the committee. It’s a rewarding experience.

Research Opportunities

Take a look at the Research Opportunities page on our website.

New opportunities include:

The New Zealand Cerebral Palsy Register researching Respiratory Health in Tamariki with Cerebral Palsy
Researchers looking for volunteers to trial a computer game to help with anxiety.

Smishing, vishing, phishing – here’s what to look out for!

You may have heard of phishing, but have you heard of smishing and vishing?
Here’s some helpful advice from the Cerebral Palsy Society’s IT company Theta – learn what Smishing, vishing, phishing mean, and how to keep yourself and your business safe from these kinds of cyber attacks.