I always look forward to my visits & outings with Phil. He is more like the big brother I’ve never had and I feel so relaxed with him – we go with the flow about what we do nearly every week. Lately we’ve been doing driving lessons at the Air Force base out north-west Auckland. We …
Sometimes it pays to simply tell a story as it is. Early this year we received this heartfelt account of Sarah Tizard and son Koria’s journey to finding Big Buddy Wes. Read more about how it has transformed their lives. ‘Koria and Wesley were matched just over a year ago. It has been the best …
Family adversity healed through having a Big Buddy Read More »
Kapiti local and mentor Pete Hobbs, 72, is testament to the more recent wave of thinking that suggests one should put the concept of retirement on the backburner and keep on keeping busy. Pete works full time as a painter-decorator and spends a few hours each week mentoring 9 year-old Sean Burkhalter. He says …
Pete’s wisdom of years perfect for mentoring Sean Read More »
On July 17 Big Buddy was privileged to have a young man represent us on TV3’s The AM Show with our CEO Paul Burns. Little Buddy Jeremiah from Papakura agreed to be waiting at his front door for Paul to pick him up at 6am sharp, and get him into the Eden Terrace studio for …
In 2013, a poem was sent in by a Big Buddy called Roger, and it still speaks right to the heart of being fatherless today. We couldn’t trace the writer, but whoever penned these verses knew the plight of boys whose fathers are not around. Quite simply, Big Buddy exists to provide ‘Jim’ with some …
We lose count of the number of mentoring relationships that make a difference. But in the case of Little Buddy Teina Kanohi and his Big Buddy Laurence Stanaway, we can definitely point out two occasions that the impact of their long-lasting relationship has had on readers. Firstly in 2014, reporter Cherie Howie wrote about them: …
Mentoring withTeina and Laurence hits headlines….twice! Read More »
There’s nothing like teaching young men to reach for the pinnacles – literally! Auckland BB extraordinaire Jim Eyre decided to take his not one – but two – LBs on an intrepid hike up to the Pinnacles in the Kaueranga Valley, Thames, a couple of weeks back. His mate Ken Costello tagged along with Nehemiah …
There’s nothing like a solid match to show new Little Buddies how it can be done. When Wellington coordinator Dave Burcher recently interviewed seven-year-old twins whose dad had died, one of them asked how he would know Big Buddies were safe. Dave explained the screening process in a way a seven-year-old could understand but still …
If you don’t yet realise the impact that mentoring makes on the life on one Little Buddy then cast your eyes over this poem, written some years back by LB Jeffrey, for his stalwart Saturday sports companion, Big Buddy Gavin. The impact of having a Big Buddy is definitely not lost on mum – in …
We all remember doing speeches in school, and we all know the best kinds of speeches are the ones about the things we like the most. So LB, Jaden chose to do his speech on his BB, Graeme and the Big Buddy programme. Good work, Jaden! “Hi, today I’m talking about my speech and my …