Kia ora koutou Lower South Caregivers!
Foster Care Awareness Week is next week! We at Caring Families Aotearoa want you to know that you are doing an outstanding job of caring for your tamariki and rangatahi. You make a positive difference for our society by nurturing and healing our tamariki and rangatahi in care. So, thank you so much for EVERYTHING you do. If you haven’t registered to come to one of our Foster Care Awareness week free events, please do so, so we can indulge you and personally say thank you.
If you are unable to attend one of our events, please remember to practice self-care. As important as self-care is, it may not feel easy or comfortable, especially if you are not used to it. But having that pause, that time for you, is beneficial to both your brain and your body.
So here is some self-care, free activities to give a go;
Lower South Regional Coordinators
Jared Porter – 03 281 7495 / 027 501 0392
Caroline Graetz – 03 470 1277 / 027 501 0005
Go On a Date with Yourself
Spend an hour doing something that nourishes you on your own (reading, practicing a hobby, visiting a museum or gallery, etc.)
Dance It Out!
Put on your favourite music and have that impromptu dance party with yourself. It helps you let go of the stress for a while.
Pretend You’re Your Best Pal.
What can you tell yourself right now if you were to say it to yourself in the mirror?
Don’t Move For a While.
For a few minutes, sit somewhere green and be quiet.
Write It Down.
One of the examples of self-care practices that I swear by is writing down your feelings. There is no better feeling than to be able to vent out your emotions on a blank piece of paper. Give it a go.
Turn Off All Electronics For One Hour.
Turn everything off, including social media and email, and you’ll be free of all disturbances.
Focus On the Things You Don’t Focus On.
Focus entirely on anything you regularly do on autopilot, such as brushing your teeth, driving, eating, or going through your morning routine.
Take A Cloud-Watching Excursion.
Relax while lying on your back and gazing at the sky.
Unplug Before Bedtime
Try to unplug all your electronic devices at least an hour before bedtime. It helps with the quality of your sleep and switches off your mind for a while.
Can you share any tips for self-care? Feel free to share what you do on our Caring Families Aotearoa Lower South Support Facebook group page.
SUPPORT
Sometimes all we need is someone on the other end of the phone to talk to. Our goal is to make sure you don’t care in isolation. So please do not hesitate to contact;
- Jared can be reached on 027 501 0392.
- Caroline can be reached on 027 501 0005.
We are also excited to assist members in connecting and sharing with one another. Please contact us if you want to start a Caregiver group in your area so that we can get one up and running this year.
In getting to know who our Caregiver members are, we’d love to come to you, at your home as we know travelling to see us can be challenging. So please let us know if you would like us to come to your home and meet with you when we are available. We’ll bring the biscuits while you boil the kettle. Here is our schedule for March as to the areas we hope to visit.
- 8th March – Ashburton, Timaru
- 9th March – Invercargill
- 10th March – Dunedin
- 11th March – Cromwell / Central Otago
And don’t forget our Facebook pages, another great way to connect with other members.
OFFICE HOURS:
Ours days of work are MONDAY – FRIDAY 8.00am-5.00pm. We may be away for training and support, but we hope for the majority of the time to have one of us in the office so please ring/text us if you wish to pop in.
TRAINING & LEARNING
We will be delivering more face to face training to the Lower South in the coming months. For this month please check out all the great online training that we have;
- What’s behind the behaviour – Healing Centred Engagement: 2nd-3rd March
- Making Changes – Stability in Hard Times: 7th-8th March
- Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder: 16th March and 28th March
- Ako Ngātahi – Helping your Child with Relationships: 22nd March and 23rd March
- Difficult Behaviours – Managing Confrontation and Intimidating Interactions: 27th – 29th March
Click on the links above or go to the Training Calendar below for more information on each of these courses and to register.
EVENTS
Foster Care Awareness Week is when we celebrate you, our wonderful caregivers, and we are excited to announce we will have three events in the lower south (Dunedin, Invercargill & Cromwell).
Invercargill
Cake & Kindness
Date: Thursday 9th March 2023
Time: 10.00am – 2.00pm
Location: ‘The Meeting Room’ at Invercargill Library, 50 Dee Street
Included: Cakes from local bakeries and cake makers, hot beverages, goodie bags, spot prizes.
REGISTER: https://www.caringfamilies.org.nz/fcaw-rsvp-2023/
Dunedin
Pamper & Pudding
Date: Friday 10th March 2023
Time: 6.00pm – 9.00pm
Location: AYU Community Space, Ground Floor, 7 Crawford Street, Dunedin
Included: Cakes & Puddings from local bakeries and cake makers, beverages, massages, facials, yoga, makeup artist & hair stylist demonstrate L’Oréal products, goodie bags, spot prizes
REGISTER: https://www.caringfamilies.org.nz/fcaw-rsvp-2023/
Cromwell
BBQ Lunch
Date: Saturday 11th March 2023
Time: 12.00pm – 3.00pm
Location: The Stoaker Room, 180 State Highway 8B, Cromwell
Included: BBQ Lunch served by The Stoaker Room, goodie bags and spot prizes.
REGISTER: https://www.caringfamilies.org.nz/fcaw-rsvp-2023/
You can also click on the link below to our website and look for the Lower South region events.
Tiaki i a koutou anō, look after yourselves!
Jared & Caroline