MEDIA RELEASE29 September 2011

SBS Bank supports Big Brothers Big Sisters of Nelson

SBS Bank is to become a local champion and a Gold Sponsor of the highly successful youth mentoring programme Big Brothers Big Sisters of Nelson.

SBS Bank Nelson Branch Manager Matt Isbister said “SBS Bank made it no secret that it was committed to its customers and its communities”.

“SBS Bank has a proud tradition of supporting community organisations and we are looking forward to developing our relationship with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Nelson over the coming years.

“We believe this programme benefits young people throughout the Nelson/Tasman region and throughout New Zealand generally, by helping them achieve their full potential,” Mr Isbister said.

“Our young people are our future and with more than 320 sponsorships of all sizes and values throughout New Zealand, we saw the opportunity to help Big Brothers Big Sisters make a positive difference in the future lives of many of our youngsters.”

Big Brothers Big Sisters local programme director Gavin Millar said their charitable organisa-tion was committed to the healthy development of children and youth through the provision of one-to-one mentoring friendships with caring adult role models.

“We now have more than 100 young people matched with an older mentor in the Nelson-Tasman region and it has massive benefits, for both parties”.

“However, none of this would be possible with out the support of grants from government and philanthropic trusts, individual donors, fundraising events and corporate sponsorship. We are hugely appreciative of the investment that SBS Bank is making to our programme and our community.”

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Background informationThe Big Brothers Big Sisters of Nelson programme, one of 14 Big Brothers Big Sisters programmes in New Zealand, is now in its 14th year of providing mentoring friendships to children in need of additional adult support. Since the first 'match' in Nelson was made between an adult and a young person in 1998, the programme has grown steadily and now has more than 100 young people100 young people who are matched with a mentorwho are matched with a mentor each year.

The children who benefit from the programme are those who have often missed out on simple opportunities many children would take for granted. Aged between seven and 16 years old, the children are primarily from single-parent families, experiencing disadvantage and referred to the programme by the parents of the children themselves. Once matched with their mentor the children have the opportunity to experience the friendship and guidance of a screened and trained adult volunteer mentor doing fun, inexpensive activities together. Many of these mentoring friendships in the Nelson programme are now in their 4th and 5th years and some for even longer.

Big Brothers Big Sisters one-to-one mentoring makes a huge difference for the youth it serves. Research consistently demonstrates that Big Brothers Big Sisters mentoring helps at-risk youth overcome the many challenges they face. The most compelling evidence was found by a large study undertaken by Public Private Ventures showing that Little Brothers and Little Sisters are:

• 46% less likely to begin using illegal drugs; • 27% less likely to begin using alcohol; • 52% less likely to skip school; • 37% less likely to skip class; • More confident in their schoolwork performance; • Able to get along better with their families.

Researchers found the following to be true of boys and girls in site-based BBBS mentoring programmes:

• 64% developed more positive attitudes towards school• 55% were better able to express their feelings• 58% achieved higher grades in social studies, languages and maths• 64% developed higher levels of self confidence• 60% improved relationships with adults and 56% improved relationships with peers• 62% were more likely to trust their teachers

There are always more youngsters in need than there are adults to be their friends.“We need more good people to volunteer,” says Gavin Millar, director of Big Brothers Big Sisters in Nelson. Currently there are 60 young people on our waiting list, 40 of which are boys.

All mentors are screened, trained, matched and supervised, the matching being made by similar interests between the younger and older member of the pair. The average length of a mentoring relationship is two years, with a commitment of at least 12 months to the young person. However, some relationships are in their fourth or fifth year, with the longest being more than nine years.

There are two schemes currently on offer; one is school based, with the mentor meeting the young person at their school for an hour a week during term time; the other is community based with contact outside school time. In both cases, the young person usually blossoms with the extra attention, becoming more confident in both school and social situations.

Link

www.bigbrothersbigsisters.org.nz/local/nelson

http://www.sbs.net.nz/

For further information please contact:

Gavin Millar, Big Brothers Big Sisters Nelson Programme DirectorTel: 03 545 9864; Email: gavin@bigbrothersbigsisters.org.nzOrMatt Isbister, Manager SBS Bank NelsonTel: 03 545 9834; Cell: 021 726 013; Email: matt.isbister@sbs.net.nz