Dogs, burgers, basketball and presents – it was a very happy Christmas experience for youngsters in care at a Police-CYF party, hosted at the Royal New Zealand Police College (RNZPC).
The event - organised by the National Prevention Centre and CYF, with generous support from RNZPC staff and community partners – saw 89 five-to-17-year-olds treated to a range of entertainments and a much-appreciated barbecue lunch.
The youngsters sat enthralled through a display by members of Wellington Dog Section, then it was a case of ‘lights, sirens, action’ when they got to press buttons in patrol cars and Wellington’s Mobile Police Base.
They enjoyed a skills session in the gym led by Wellington Saints basketball star Damien Ekenasio, who stayed on to hang out with them for the rest of the day.
They also visited the RNZPC’s House of Crime, where trainee detectives are put through their investigative paces.
The day ended with a visit from Santa, who handed out presents - supplied by The Warehouse - to each of the young visitors.
The party built on the success of a smaller event held at the college last year for youngsters from the Epuni Care and Protection Residence in Lower Hutt.
With support from Deputy Commissioner Viv Rickard, who is on secondment at the Ministry of Social Development, the scope was widened to make this year’s party a much larger gathering for children in care.
“I think it would be fair to say that for most of us there were moments when we blinked away tears and reflected on why it is important to be aspirational with the work we do,” says Superintendent Tusha Penny, National Manager Prevention. “It matters and it changes lives.”
Among stand-out moments, she says, were the excitement of one 14-year-old at the prospect of seeing his younger siblings for the first time in months, and the joy of a young boy who had suffered disfiguring injuries at the hands of his mother.
Tusha acknowledged the many people whose hard work made the party possible. “It wouldn’t have been the incredible event it was without the input of all.”