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HealthCarePlus’ Grants for Good is supporting Big Buddy Mentoring Trust to help young men find their voice and confidence.
For over 25 years, Big Buddy Mentoring Trust has been quietly changing lives across New Zealand. Since 1997, they’ve supported more than 1,242 boys who don’t have their dad or a positive male role model in their lives. Now, thanks to a HealthCarePlus’ Grant for Good, they’re expanding their reach.
The statistics are sobering: an estimated 8,000 boys in New Zealand live with very little or no ongoing contact with their father or an adult male. Research shows this absence can have lasting impacts on their development and wellbeing, affecting everything from self-esteem to emotional regulation and social connections.
“We know that mums, grandmothers and other female carers do a great job, but sometimes their boys can feel a gap,” explains Christie Stuart, Co-CEO at Big Buddy Mentoring Trust. “Big Buddy is here to help bridge that gap by connecting these boys to a positive male role model, a volunteer Big Buddy."
Traditionally, Big Buddy has focused on one-on-one mentoring, matching Little Buddies with Big Buddies to create ongoing positive relationships. But recognising that older boys’ needs are more complex in today’s society, and facing a shortage of volunteers, they’ve developed something new: Group Programmes specifically designed for teenage boys.
"Boys will look for a male role model in their life, whether that be a positive influence or not,” says Christie. “The development of our new Group Programme for teenage boys in Wellington is designed to help more boys at an impressionable time in their lives.”
This is where HealthCarePlus and the Grants for Good programme helped out. When Big Buddy spotted the Grant for Good opportunity through Strategic Grants, they immediately saw the alignment.
“From the outline and all the details we found it really felt like this matched our work and both organisations were very aligned in beliefs and desire to make an impact.”
“The HealthCarePlus Grant for Good has meant so much to us at Big Buddy,” says Christie. “It helped us launch our first Group Programme for teenage boys in Wellington. These boys are at an age where life can feel confusing, and having a space to build confidence, open up, and learn how to connect with others is so important. This grant didn’t just fund a programme – it showed us that others believe in what we’re doing too.”
The impact extends far beyond the programme participants themselves.
“We find that the ripple of positive connections makes an impact much wider than just the individuals involved,” Christie explains. “By supporting our boys to become good men, they then take these learnings into their day-to-day lives now and in the future, the positive relationships they have with their Mums, whānau, sisters, teachers, coaches, friends, partners. The ripple continues many years after."
Their message to other potential grant applicants is encouraging: “Give it a go! The best part was that HealthCarePlus understood that this was a new programme for Big Buddy and that they were happy to support and learn with us along the way.”
With one simple but powerful goal – “That no boy feels alone” – Big Buddy Mentoring Trust continues to prove that sometimes the most profound changes happen one relationship at a time.
Feedback from our Grant Committee members:
If you are interested and want to know more this year's Grants for Good and how to apply for one, then click below to find out more.
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