We have been teaching personal safety to preschool children and their parents for the past 25 years. 
 
This year, we have struck a contracting problem with usual funder - ACC. This has meant that payment is in doubt for the delivery of 18 programmes in the first half of this year, and we have no funding to proceed with the 8 preschool centres booked for the first
​half of term 3.
We think the programme is cheap at the price – it costs about $2000 to offer this 6 session programme with materials, which averages out at less than $100 per child, for information and skills which can protect them from abuse for years. 

Most sexual abuse takes place within homes.

In fact, it is usually committed by someone who is trusted by the child.

At Help our therapy model involves working not only with the child but also their non-offending parent/caregiver to restore the child’s sense of safety in the world. 

At the same time we recognise that the mothers of children who have been sexually abused need as much support as we can give them too.  The anger, disbelief, shame and guilt can be so overwhelming that they isolate themselves from everyone.   
 
Research demonstrates that peer support, where interaction occurs between people sharing similar experiences, is highly effective and important in assisting individuals in coming to terms with their own experiences.
 
As  a new initiative the Child and Family Team have set up a ‘mothers supporting mothers’ group that meets for a few hours every month in the lounge at HELP. 
 
This group is for mothers who have children that have been sexually abused by their partner, husband or boyfriend.  This group is for women who have been in therapy for at least 3 months; the group being an adjunct to therapy. 
 
Our primary objective is to provide a group environment to access the support of other mothers in similar circumstances in order to

• Reduce the burden of Shame
• Reduce the burden of isolation
• Reality check
• Experience Compassion
• Share ideas
• Share coping strategies

Sharing Resources including reviewing knowledge of trauma and its mechanisms (psychoeducation)

Come support HELP Auckland at this year’s Mid-Winter Charity Irish Dance.

When: Friday 3rd August only $30 per ticket. 7pm till late
Where: Auckland Irish Club in Morningside
Music: Live band, as well and the McCallion Hester Irish Dance Academy performing on the night. Some of the dancers were with Riverdance.

Promises to be a fun night.

Email me Leanne for a ticket only $30 and all funds come to HELP. l.ryburn@helpauckland.org.nz or ring 09 623 1700 or on 0275929117

#MeToo has started a movement and more people are getting in on the conversation.
 
NZ Herald 
By: Sarah Catherall

A Kiwi filmmaker has revealed she made a sexual harassment complaint about a camera operator while they were filming in a remote New Zealand location.

Joining the #Metoo movement, Chelsea Winstanley - wife of Thor director Taika Waititi - said the incident nine years ago has affected her work life with her seeking the safety of producing roles rather than directing.

​Chelsea Winstanley: 'Why I'm more than just Taika's wife'

Winstanley was home in New Zealand last week, from the couple's base in Los Angeles to put the finishing touches to a documentary she is producing about the pioneering Maori film maker, the late Merata Mita.

In an exclusive interview, the 42-year-old told the Weekend Herald that she was directing TV documentary, One Land.

Angie 2018

Directed by Costa Botes AOTEAROA
(article written by NZIFF) 

Angie Meiklejohn, prominent and articulate Centrepoint survivor, is joined by her siblings in this lucid exploration of the legacy of sexual abuse, directed without a hint of sensationalism by Costa Botes.

Costa Botes will present his film in person at its NZ International Film Festival screenings.

When Angie Meiklejohn’s mother followed the latest love of her life to Centrepoint in 1985, taking Angie, her younger brother and two little sisters, they’d never lived anywhere so nice.

The parkland setting was idyllic, with an Olympic-size swimming pool, and all their material needs were covered. As we now know, what happened to children at Bert Potter’s alternative lifestyle settlement was far from nice.

Costa Botes’ film about Angie and her siblings provides a vivid, multidimensional view of the damage done – often to already damaged people.

Angie herself was in trouble even before the move to Centrepoint. She and her brother had been wards of the state. She’d been sexually abused by one of her mother’s lovers, and then raped, aged 11, by the teenage son of another. Desperate for some sense of belonging and approval, she embraced the community’s values and the attention of its founder.

Angie and her siblings are compelling, strikingly assured camera subjects. One of the many salutary virtues of Angie’s account is the livid clarity with which she recalls, for example, how empowered she felt being wanted by old men that she could barely bring herself to look at. Her younger sisters recall just as clearly but remember nothing but horror.

The catalogue of projects and love affairs subsequently undertaken and abandoned by Angie is staggering. What never seems in doubt is her great appetite for life and a mind that’s never sharper than when dissecting the dynamics of sexual abuse, and the way parental neglect and that abuse have shaped her choices. She has much to tell us all.

You can purchase ticket to the premiere of 'Angie' here.

Costa Botes’ moving documentary ANGIE is screening during this year’s #NZIFF. Told from the viewpoint of Centrepoint survivor Angie Meiklejohn, the film is a lucid exploration of a legacy of sexual abuse, directed without a hint of sensationalism. Find out more at: https://www.nziff.co.nz/2018/auckland/angie/

Our new website provides a clear message of how we can help, what we stand for and where our value lies.

The website also boasts a clean design and intuitive and consistent site-wide navigation system with improved menu functionality that directs you to the information most relevant to you.

It is also fully responsive with mobile devices, making it easy to navigate on a wide range of web browsers and portable devices.
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Going forward, we will continue to communicate regularly with our supporters through our regular online blog.

​Check out the new website here: www.helpauckland.org.nz