Ace effort: Excited with her hole in one, Maddisyn Hollamby with YMCA friends Xavier Ribbon and Shelby Wawatai. All pictures by Renae Lolohea
School holiday programmes can give parents a break but they can also give children lifelong benefits.
In the 1980s Gisborne’s YMCA had one of the first holiday programmes in the region.
The cost to attend was less than a dollar a day.
Albeey Te-Maari was a YMCA attendee when he was 10 and never expected it would lead to a job.
“When I came to the programme I made lifelong friends. We were all either ex-members of the YMCA holiday programme or grew up in it,” he said.
“We started a youth group. Then from that, I got a job opportunity.
“It really does build friendships — that whakawhanaungatanga that is really important.”
After being a team leader and working in the programme for seven years, Te-Maari sees the benefit of the service for both parents and tamariki.
“I think it is a really important service, especially in this time when parents have just come out of Covid and they need to go to work to start earning again,” he said.
“They can get to their jobs and not worry about their kids, because they are doing fun activities.”
After spending a decade working in the technology industry, Shanon O’Connor retrained as a primary school teacher and worked at Te Wharau School for three years.
She is now combining both her passions as director of Tōnui Collab.
“Tōnui Collab is committed to creating equitable opportunities to see more Māori and Pacifika across the STEMM fields — science, technology, engineering and maths — and we are committed to that through a matauranga lens,” she said.
“So we create these experiences where tamariki and rangatahi can experience STEMM through the exploration of pūrākau Māori (Maori legends).”
The organisation is running a holiday programme at Rangiwaho Marae in the foothills of the Whareratas.
“Tamariki are getting exposed to virtual reality. They are getting an opportunity to explore the taiao out here at Rangiwaho, and then take that learning and create their virtual world experiences.”
O’Connor’s aspiration is that tamariki will see technology as a potential pathway.
“They might consider exploring technology at secondary school, then they may take on apprenticeships, or enter university in the tech fields. (The idea is) that they see themselves as creators and not just consumers of tech and they ultimately see an opportunity to create technology through an indigenous lens.”
Gisborne gymnastics coach Nicola Ludwig enjoys the holidays because it gives her a chance to come up with innovative things for children to enjoy.
“What I love about the holidays is we can be really creative, try new things, and adapt to the times with what kids really want.”
Ludwig moved to Gisborne from Germany in 1999.
“My dream was always to become a coach. I wanted to be like my coach back in Germany, being a mother to all the kids coming through the door and helping them fulfil their dreams.”
The club has seen a big resurgence under Ludwig’s watch with now more than 40 classes a week — from the under-2s tiny tumblers class through to senior and competitive gymnastics.
“We’ve got some quite talented kids in our gym and we hope to bring them all the way to senior level, and maybe all the way to step 10, which is the highest in New Zealand,” she said.
Gisborne’s Childers Road Reserve has hosted a multitude of football matches over the years, local, national and international.
During the school holidays it hosts the Central Football holiday programme where football fanatics sharpen their skills.
Central Football community development officer Lee Smith said the holiday programme covered “the recreation side of things”.
“We do like to offer a mixed programme that has a lot of player development, that can build their skills up, and it has to be fun as well.”
Smith relocated his family to Gisborne when he took up the role nine months ago and said he is pleased more girls are playing football.
“We’ve got three or four schools who are entering all-girls teams into the junior competition this year.
“We have a record number of girls playing in Super League which is fantastic, and all it really needs is for somebody to show some enthusiasm.”
With so many great options for tamariki in Gisborne during the holidays, the dilemma for parents isn’t finding something to do but deciding which they should choose.