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Kia ora koutou katoa, and welcome to Child Poverty Action Group New Zealand's Christmas 2017 newsletter.

In This Issue

Meri Kirihimete from CPAG!
Report launch: Further fraying of the welfare safety net
United call to action for multi-party commitment to reducing child poverty
Buskers for child poverty at Grey Lynn Markets
MERW fundraising month
Reminder: Round the bays in 2018
CPAG blog update
CPAG news update
Six-monthly update
Christmas appeal
Keeping up with the regional networks
Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter

Meri Kirihimete from CPAG!  

 
Kia ora koutou and welcome to CPAG's Christmas Newsletter! 

What a busy year it has been for CPAG and all our supporters, with a general election campaign asking for A New Zealand where all children can flourish   , report launches, blogs and press releases, as well as workshops for CPAG youth advocates, fundraising efforts and frequent collaboration with other common-interest groups. Child poverty was a central concern this year across the political spectrum, from National's Budget 2017 to the general election, and the new Labour coalition has declared a strong commitment to making an impact for children from low-income families - a testament to the work of CPAG and other organisations dedicated to the cause. We are hugely grateful to all all CPAG supporters and volunteers who have provided active support financially and in many and varied ways to assist our work. Without your support, we couldn't have achieved so much! With that we wish you a peaceful and safe Christmas, and look forward together, to a new year of hope for all our tamariki - that they may have equal opportunities to thrive.

CPAG will be back on board from January 8 if you would like to be in touch.

Meri Kirihimete!

The CPAG team

The launch of CPAG's latest report: Further fraying of the welfare safety net was held at the Ellen Melville Centre in Auckland on 18 December 2017. Drawing its inspiration from the 2008 Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand report The Unravelling of the welfare safety net which documented the changes between 1991 and 2008, the 2017 report by CPAG details further changes over the past nine years, that have led to further deterioration of the welfare system. 
Despite being a tricky time of year for many, the content of the report resonated so much so that event registrations filled up and there was a full house at the venue. Attendees and speakers convened afterwards for tea and coffee to chat about the report and hopes for reparation of thirty years of damage, under a new Government committed to reducing child poverty.

CPAG authors Dr Gerry Cotterell and Hon Associate Professor Susan St John introduced the report, followed by our wonderful and inspiring guest speakers. Auimatagi Joe Moeono-Kolio from Caritas, Helen Robinson of Auckland City Mission, and Vanessa Cole from AAAP, shared their insights of real life consequences of these changes to the welfare system, and their hopes for a better future for families and whanau. CPAG is sincerely grateful to all those who attended and read the report. To access the report online click here .
United call to action for a strong and enduring, multiparty commitment to reducing child poverty

CPAG worked alongside ACYA and other members of the children's advocacy community, to produce a statement that was endorsed by more than 30 other organisations from various sectors, calling for a united and enduring response to reducing child poverty. The statement supported Judge Becroft's efforts to help broker a broad, multi-party accord for child poverty reduction, as that has the capacity to ensure a better future for all children in Aotearoa-New Zealand. If there is broad political support to protect the elderly from poverty via New Zealand Superannuation, there should be equally strong commitment to protect our youngest citizens. A multi-party accord or agreement could help embed and uphold children's rights to safety, security, good health, and equal opportunities for the long term. More organisations have requested to join their names to the cause since the statement was released, and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern welcomed the call to action saying she would "take the politics out of poverty".

Read the full statement and endorsement by organisations here.

Buskers for child poverty at Grey Lynn Markets


A wonderfully talented group of young children  performed at the Grey Lynn Farmers  Market in November in support of Child Poverty Action Group. 

The fundraiser was a great success and we would like to thank all the children, Snjezana Kalinic and the music teachers for giving up their S unday  morning to support CPAG. 
 
 

MERW fundraising month 

During October Child Poverty Action Group was one of the beneficiaries  of the MinterEllisonRuddWatts (MERW) law firm  fundraising  month, a charity initiative held yearly by the firm. They held various events to help raise awareness and donations, including a quiz night and bake sale as well as charity auctions and fitness classes! MERW raised a significant amount of money for CPAG and we are very humbled by their efforts. The donation will go a long way towards our work in 2018. We are especially  grateful to all those who participated and to  Charlie Lin for being the MERW liaison for the events, keeping CPAG informed of their progress and activities over the month. 
CPAG new online resource: 

The purpose of this preliminary backgrounder, Whakapono: End child poverty in Māori whānau, written by Dr M. Claire Dale is to report the current situation for tamariki Māori, with particular focus on social and economic conditions, and the various ways that current health, education and housing policies are impacting, and in many cases, compromising their futures. 

This publication is intended as an urgent and necessary call to action, to create a reason for whakapono, for hope. We gratefully acknowledge the contribution to this paper by Dr Hirini Kaa and Dr Alayne Hall, as well as Professor Cindy Kiro, Associate Professor Manuka Henare and Jennifer Braithwaite for their comments and suggestions.
Reminder: Round the bays in 2018

If you haven't already signed up as a team or as an individual for Auckland's Round the Bays fun run in 2018, there is still plenty of time for you to join up to support CPAG with raising awareness about child poverty and fundraising towards our ongoing work in 2018.

All running/walking levels welcome.

We recommend starting up an everydayhero  fundraising page to share with your family and friends.Instructions below:

 

Once you have registered click on 'Start a  fundraising page' .

  • Start a fundrasing page as part of the Child Poverty Action Group team and click "Join Team"
  • Share the page with your friends and family so they can help support our cause.
  • CPAG will be automatically notified when you choose us as your charity, and if you contact us with your address we can send you a beautiful orange CPAG race t-shirt
  • We'll arrange a meet up with the CPAG team before the race  
Now you can start training for the day!

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact us at admin@cpag.org.nz.
CPAG Blog Update
Latest blog posts November - December


When National Standards (NS) were introduced it was perhaps assumed that raising achievement in schools serving low-income communities, which children who experience poverty generally attend, would be inevitable.  School data would be made public, schools would compete, and ultimately 'failing schools' would 'up their game'. At the same time parents would gain a clear picture (through a written report) of where their child's achievement stood in relation to the national cohort. With NS, competition (between students, between teachers and between schools) was seen as the key to positive change. The abolishing of NS indicates that the policy has failed in what it set out to do.  

Six-monthly update
April - September 2017

Over the six months from April to September Child poverty was a central concern and a regular feature of media and public interest particularly from announcements in the May Budget to the final debates before the election.

In the decades since CPAG was established we have never witnessed all major parties committed to significant reduction in child poverty.

Christmas appeal

 
Child Poverty Action Group depends on your financial and moral support. We are so grateful to each and every donor, supporter, volunteer and child advocate who, behind the scenes, keeps CPAG operating as an effective organisation. We wish to acknowledge and thank all those people from all walks of life who have contributed to CPAG this year by fundraising, speaking or helping at one of our events or assisting with research projects and campaigns.  

If you would like to support CPAG in 2018 you can  make a donation to ensure we can continue our research, education and advocacy work towards eliminating child poverty. 


Donations can also still be made through online banking, payroll giving, tax credit donations and cheques.   

Online banking
Account number: 38-9003-0066858-00
Reference: your name and DONATION

Cheque - post to:
Child Poverty Action Group (Inc). 
PO Box 56 11, Wellesley St, Auckland 1141.


Keeping up with CPAG Regional Networks

Currently CPAG has networks in Whangarei, Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin and Nelson.  If you're interested in attending CPAG events in your local region please sign up to your closest network  mailing list.
 
If your organisation or event is looking for support from a local CPAG on issues that relate to our  kaupapa, please don't hesitate to get in touch.                           
Join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram!

F or the latest news, blogs and policy updates related to child poverty, check out our Facebook page. 

The CPAG social media community is growing and to date we have reached 13,704 'likes' on Facebook!

We are working hard at ensuring we highlight items of significance and relevance to child poverty in New Zealand, and take note of what is going on in other countries so that we can find out what works for children and what doesn't. We also aim to keep you up-to-date on local seminars that are useful and informative, as well as events that will be entertaining, and links to campaigns by other organisations in the child well-being network. 

We need your help to spread the word, and we care about what you think. So join us on  Facebook,   Twitter  and Instagram @cpagnz. Contribute to the discussion, like and share our posts if you find them meaningful. We value your feedback, and invite you to private message us or email us should you have a query or would like to share something with us. Our  blog posts online also invite you to comment and share via social media. 

With your help, we can change the narrative about poverty in Aotearoa New Zealand and make it a better place for whānau and tamariki, for generations to come.

Ngā mihi nui