Great news for our joint parenting eduction programme with Plunket which was specifically put together to get first time dads together to "talk shop" about parenting from a male perspective. We got awarded a grant by Sovereign Sunshine to help with the nationwide expansion of the programme. YAY!

The following story was covered by several publications yesterday. The text below featured in the NZ Herald yesterday:

A training and support group for new fathers has been given a $15,000 hand-out from charity fund-raiser Sovereign Sunshine.

DIYFather directors Scott Lancaster and Stefan Korn have successfully completed the first Dads4Dads course delivered as part of Plunket's Parenting Education Programme. Eleven fathers enrolled for the first course which was held at the Khandallah Plunket Rooms in Wellington.

The course was designed for fathers of children under one-year-old and covered key issues relating to parenting in general and specifically fatherhood. Scott and Stefan were keen to help fathers realise the importance of their role in helping their baby develop and emphasise that babies know their fathers right from the moment of birth.

As the last day of the 2008 Plunket Appeal comes to an end the DIYFather / Plunket superheroes received a total of $1255 in online donations. On top of that Scott, Eric and Stefan handed over some very full buckets of cash donations to the team at Plunket. We all had lots of fun getting out there as superheroes and received amazing support from our friends, families and sponsors. A big THANK YOU to all those who donated money for the appeal and a huge super thank you to our superheroes who joined the DIYFather team and dressed up on October 17th. May the force be with you all!

Scott, Stefan and Eric collecting for Plunket in town

Superhero gathering at Plunket headquarters in Wellington

-Stef

Scott and Stefan started their day as superheroes on TVNZ's Good Morning Show accompanied by Vicky Hedifen from Plunket. Sarah Bradley interviewed the three superheroes and found out what's happening with this year's appeal. Click here to watch the segment with Scott, Stefan and Vicky.

-Stef

Here's a nice idea to raise funds for children in New Zealand. Some of the country's iconic musicians have contributed their time to record a fundraising CD for Plunket. The initiative was organise by Monique Rhodes and recording artists Opshop, Hollie Smith, Jordan Luck and many others have joined in to make this project happen. Proceeds from the CD go to Plunket to help give Kiwi kids the best start in life.

Have a look at www.merrychristmasbaby.co.nz and check it out - a great gift and a great initiative we think!

-Stef

On May 14th Plunket will be celebrating Cup Day, Plunket’s birthday. A day to commemorate over 100 years of providing New Zealand families with support, service and advice.

Cup Day is an opportunity to get people together over a well deserved cuppa, have some fun and help give children the best start in life by raising some money for Plunket.

Plunket would love it if you wanted to help celebrate and host your own Cup Day event.

Why not organise a morning tea for friends, family or workmates this May (May 14th is Plunket’s official birthday, but you can hold your event any time in May) and encourage everyone to bring along a gold coin donation for Plunket.

Maybe you could host a bake-off? A Mad Hatters Tea party? High tea? Teddy bears picnic? Let your imagination run wild and encourage guests to dress and cook in theme!

Get your family together for a fabulous variety concert

To launch the national week of awareness for Families Day the Families Commission, in partnership with Rotary, Capital Theatre Productions and MORE FM, is hosting a free family variety show at the Michael Fowler Centre in Wellington.

Family Affair have gathered some of Wellington's best child and adult acts together to put on a free show that the whole family will enjoy. From comedy to Shakespeare, choirs to salsa dancers there will something for everyone.

Bring a can

The theme for Families Day this year is Why Families Matter? And the word that keeps coming back to us when we ask this question is SUPPORT.

So to help us support families in need we are asking those families attending the show to bring along a can of food which will be donated to the Wellington City Mission's Food Bank.

DIYFather will be there hosting a stall, so come along have a chat with us and enjoy a great event!

Family Affair
Sunday 10 May 2009
Michael Fowler Centre
Wellington
Performance 2pm - 4pm
Doors open at 12.30pm