So, what is it? It’s a night for people of all ages to come together, learn more about Cleft NZ, what we do and provide you with an opportunity to tell us what you would like to see from Cleft NZ in the future. It is designed for anybody in the Christchurch area with an interest in cleft – whether it be parents, kids, teens, adults, medical professionals, students or anyone else with an interest!

This event will be hosted by Cleft New Zealand’s South Island Co-ordinator, Kenny Ardouin who will introduce our guest speaker for the evening, Mr. R. Kaipa, a PhD student in the Department of Communication Disorders at the University of Canterbury, who will talk to us about his amazing experiences working with The Smile Train, the international organisation which provides free cleft surgery to children in countries less fortunate than our own (The Smile Train are the people behind the award winning ‘Smile Pinki’ film screened on the recent roadshow). We are very privileged to have the opportunity to hear from Mr Kaipa before he heads to the States shortly, so please do come along to hear about his work, it promises to be very interesting and a real eye-opener for us all. Following this, Kenny will talk briefly about Cleft NZ’s operations in Christchurch and plans to get everything moving again over the next year (we have some exciting stuff coming up, you want to hear about it!), and then following this we will have some pizza and drinks (provided by Cleft NZ) and then will watch the family comedy Marley & Me to wrap up the evening. Cleft NZ staff will be available on the night for you to talk to about any queries or ideas you may have.

When: Tuesday 5 June, 6:30pm (doors open at 6pm with the award winning Smile Pinki documentary screening from 6pm)

Where: North New Brighton War Memorial Community Centre, 93 Marine Parade, Christchurch (Downstairs)

Who for? Anyone with an interest in Cleft Lip and/or Palate – parents, kids, teenagers, adults, professionals and students are all welcome.

How much? This is a FREE event, although, donations are always welcome!

RSVP: Places are limited for this one, so if you would like to come, please email kenny@cleft.org.nz ASAP to secure your place!

About our guest speaker, Ramesh Kaipa: http://www.cmds.canterbury.ac.nz/postgrads/kaipa.shtml

About the movie Marley & Me (check out the trailer below)
Genre: Comedy
Rating: PG

This event is a special treat for the city of Christchurch seeing as it’s been a tough time for us all lately, and we are really keen to resume our operations in Christchurch following the earthquakes. As a result, this latest Christchurch event is FREE! Spaces are limited though, so please RSVP by emailing kenny@cleft.org.nz ASAP to secure your place!

Our main speaker for the evening will be Peter Fowler, Orthodontist from Christchurch. Peter is actively involved in a project to collect and examine data from Cleft Units around New Zealand, working towards establishing criteria for best practice in all aspects of Cleft Management in NZ.

Peter’s talk will be of interest to all Cleft parents, families and supporters. Please take this opportunity to hear about important work being carried out for the benefit of everyone with a Cleft!

Kenny Ardouin will also update us on his work as South Island Co-ordinator, and a brief review of his recent successful road show.

Light refreshments will be served after the meeting. Parking is available off Hobson Street on the forecourt in front of, and alongside the church.

Please RSVP to info@cleft.org.nz for catering and seating purposes.

The next Auckland Coffee Group:

Well this is your chance. One of our members is organising a dinner on Saturday 12th May in Ponsonby, Auckland.

Anybody is welcome to attend, particularly those cleft adults who want to meet other cleft adults and share their stories (because let’s Face It – we all have a story to tell!) Parents of cleft children are also very welcome to attend this event! Oh and feel free to bring partners and friends along – the more the merrier!

What? Where? When?

Date: Saturday 12th May
Time: 7pm
Location: Ponsonby Bistro 222
Address: 222 Ponsonby Road
Ponsonby, Auckland 1011

Check out the venue and menu at www.bistro222.co.nz

If you would like to go, please RSVP by Wednesday 9 May to Laura Ash by emailing laurabell.ash@gmail.com

Got some feedback about the roadshow? Email roadshow@cleft.org.nz

“Hi Kenny, I attended the bullying talk yesterday in Christchurch. Congratulations on a great seminar! I was very impressed with the Cleft Roadshow and wish you all the best for your trip. Well done!” – Kate

“Huge congrats to Kenny and everyone else involved in the Roadshow! Wellington pulled out a stunning day! Kenny your passion and committment to the organisation and the cause is astounding! Keep up the great work!” – Jen

“Thanks for today…my wife & I appreciate the support & time given to this venture. A great initiative. It’s also great to have the ‘Face it’ logo & what it means out there in the public domain for cleft awareness. Well done team & it was a pleasure to meet Kenny too.” – Marcus

“Awesome to meet you today, Riley & Adrienne ”

“Was great meeting you thanks for an awesome event. You are a credit to the cleft community kenny.” – Jessica

“Just been and visited the roadshow in Napier and wanted to say what a fantastic idea and well done to Kenny and everyone else who was involved in organising it and making it happen. Well done Cleft NZ ” – Joanne

“Thanks so much for today Kenny. You’re doing a remarkable job. For those of you further north, please make the effort to see Kenny, you’ll definitely get so much out of it. Thank you Kenny for educating people so that clefts really are just a normal part of our society, which in turn is going to help my Liv and everyone else in this group. And also Kenny, thought you’d find it funny that Liv was still going on and on before bed that you’re both special since you’re clefties and lefties!!!!” – Sophie

“ Was very cool seeing the truck in Hamilton and meeting you Kenny. Thanks so much for organising the event, legend!!!!!” – Anita

“It was great meeting you, and you are doing a great job. Still trying to get B to sign up to the youth page lolz I will keep bugging him heehee” – Rachel

“Thanks kenny it was great to meet you and awesome what you are doing for our cleft kids around the country!!!!!! Have fun in Auckland!!!” – Anita

“The rain didn’t get in the way and the guys did a great job, great information, and mostly just nice to meet with you on your country tour on behalf of us – great job!! well done!” – Lorraine

“Great to meet you ever so briefly today Kenny. Hoping to catch up again before you head back south. ” – Kylie

“Kenny, it was a pleasure to spend the day with you on Saturday – and to meet new families and see older families again. Looking forward to helping with the next one!” – Louise

“Great to catch up with you Kenny and what an awesome effort you put into the road show. I think my 7 year old cleft kid summed it up on the way home – “Kenny was really nice to do that eh mum?” – Barbara

“It was a pleasure to meet you on Saturday. Thank you for taking the time to meet & connect with all the cleft kids. Tom doesn’t say much, but I know he got a lift from meeting you – a boy who looks like him. It was a relief, if that makes sense? We hope there will be more road shows. If so, Tom and our family would love to be involved x” – Kate and Tom

“Thanks for the feedback and well done.  it was great for the patients, community and our service.  your time and effort is much appreciated.” – Megan, CMDHB

“I went on Saturday to Cornwall Park and met Kenny and some other lovely people.  I filled in a membership form and they gave me the blue book… great to go along and meet them and have a bit of a chat.” – Jan

Huge thanks to everyone who came down, said hi and showed their support during the 2012 roadshow, it was fantastic to meet you all.

To view our photo gallery of the photos from the Cleft NZ Roadshow, please check us out on Facebook at www.facebook.com/FaceItNZ

To view or listen to media articles surrounding the roadshow, please click here: http://www.faceit.org.nz/2012-roadshow-media-articles/

To see what others had to say about the roadshow, please click here: http://www.faceit.org.nz/testimonies-from-the-2012-roadshow/

2012 Roadshow Video

Here’s where we went

Monday 02 April: Christchurch 11am – 6pm (Christchurch Botanic Gardens, Car Park off Armagh St, Christchurch City Centre)

Wednesday 04 April: Nelson 9am – 5pm (Rutherford Park, Nelson City Centre)

Thursday 05 April: Picton 8am – 12pm (Lower High Street, Picton Town Centre)

Friday 06 April: Wellington 10am – 6pm (Te Papa Promenade on the Waterfront, access off Taranaki Street, Wellington City Centre)

Saturday 07 April: Palmerston North 12pm – 6pm (The Square, by the i-Site, Palmerston North Town Centre)

Monday 09 April: Napier 9am – 5:30pm (Paved area between Marine Parade and Herschell St by the statue opposite the Masonic Hotel)

Tuesday 10 April: Taupo 12pm – 5pm (Ferry Road Carpark, on the waterfront opposite Taupo Domain, Taupo Town Centre)

Wednesday 11 April: Tauranga 11am – 6pm (Bayfair Shopping Centre Carpark, Mount Maunganui, Tauranga)

Thursday 12 April: Hamilton 10am – 5pm (Hamilton Gardens, Cobham Drive, Lake/Lawn area by Carpark 1)

Friday 13 April: Manukau 10am – 6pm (Manukau Super Clinic, Conference Centre Room 3, 901 Great South Road)

Saturday 14 April: Auckland Central 9am – 5:30pm (Cornwall Park, Manukau Road, Lower Main Car Park – we’ll have orange balloons on the van so you can find us!)

Sunday 15 April: West Auckland 10am – 5pm (Trusts Stadium, Central Park Drive, Henderson, Auckland)

View Cleft New Zealand Roadshow in a larger map

Cleft NZ would like to thank the following organisations for their support with the Cleft NZ Roadshow

Paragon Design

Kale Printing, Tauranga

Madhu and the team at BP Greenlane, Auckland

McDonald’s Moorhouse Avenue, Christchurch

Youthline Auckland

Christchurch City Council

Nelson City Council

Marlborough District Council

New Zealand Transport Authority (NZTA)

Wellington City Council

Destination Manawatu

Napier City Council

Great Lake Taupo District Council

Bayfair Shopping Centre

Hamilton Gardens

Counties Manukau District Health Board

Cornwall Park

Trusts Stadium

This was just one of many exciting new initiatives that Cleft New Zealand is implementing. Watch this space for more cool stuff coming your way!

A presentation by Karen Smith, Ministry of Health

Hosted by Parent & Family Resource Centre

When: Thursday 1st March 7 – 9pm

Where: Nathan Homestead 70 Hill Road, Manurewa

When: Tuesday 13th March 12.30 – 2.30pm (preschoolers welcome)

Where: Disability Resource Centre 14 Erson Avenue, Royal Oak

When: Tuesday 20th March 7 – 9pm

Where: YES Disability Resource Centre 3 William Laurie Place, Albany

RSVP is essential: Phone Melissa (09) 636-0351 Melissa@pfrc.org.nz

Who Should Attend: If you are a disabled person, parent or guardian of a disabled person, you might want more choice about how services will be delivered, when they will be delivered and who will provide your government funded support. Individualised funding helps you;

• Employ the support staff you want in your life – people who understand your culture, priorities, preferences and lifestyle choices.
• Set your own timetable so support staff come and go as you want, so you can build stronger relationships and enjoy a better social life.

• Take charge of who enters your life and reclaim your priorities.
• Source ‘respite’ care that best benefits your family.
• Identify new sources of support.

• Magician  11am
• Santa 1pm
• Food – coffee, cake, sausages and icecream.

Rhys Whiting is currently studying towards an Honours in Bachelor of Business Analysis Degree at Waikato University, with a view of undertaking Masters in 2012 majoring in Economics and Finance.

Rhys in action

His dream is to become a CEO of a major Multinational Corporation and he already has the next step lined up. An AIESEC Global Internship which would give him the opportunity to fine tune his theory with practical experience.

AIESEC is the largest youth-run organisation in the world which facilitates global opportunities and gives practical leadership and development experience to members. But it costs money, so Rhys has applied to AMP Scholarships for funding to help him reach this goal.

How to vote

Please Vote for Rhys Whiting and help him win the People’s Choice Award – it is worth $10K and would be a great way for us to celebrate another amazing young man, who happens also to have been born with a cleft lip and palate. We have a fantastic role model for our kids – Face It we can do anything.

Please vote for Rhys and let all your family, work mates and friends know too.