Big Brothers Big Sisters partnership

The partnership will increase capacity for one-to-one mentoring relationships through trained adult volunteers, directly supporting the lives of hundreds of young people and their whānau/families in communities all across Āotearoa New Zealand.

Naylor Love’s support will significantly boost the mentoring programme by enabling BBBSNZ to employ a National CEO, Drew Ewan, who among many other exciting developments will be commissioned with raising awareness of the measurable impact that mentoring has on developing young lives and the significant ways Mentors help ‘ignite youth potential.’

We feel it is pivotal for BBBSNZ to have Naylor Love at our side as we continue to grow from mentoring 1000 children in NZ to aspiring to reach tens of thousands. The support that Naylor Love offers is much more than just financial – it is a nationwide, values-based partnership that will see collaboration on many levels between two organisations wanting to support the wellbeing of our communities. Both Big Brothers Big Sisters and Naylor Love believe that every young person in New Zealand deserves opportunities to thrive and experience success.

Elaine Ford – BBBSNZ National Chair

Naylor Love has been looking to partner with a nationwide organisation that is making a positive difference to the social fabric of New Zealand. Big Brothers Big Sisters ticks all the boxes for us, and we’re pleased to be able to assist them by supporting the role of their CEO. We anticipate that given the vital and effective service they offer to our communities, their national coverage, and now the cohesion they will have through the appointment of Drew Ewen, that BBBS will become widely recognised for the incredible work that they do. I have no doubt New Zealand will be better off in the long term because of this association.

Rick Herd – CEO, Naylor Love

Who Are Big Brothers Big Sisters of New Zealand?

With a history as long as Rotary, the Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS) mentoring programme was established in the early 1900’s in an attempt to help combat the rising number of young boys presenting to the New York court system. By recruiting, training and matching adult volunteers as mentors with young people in need of additional positive role models and stable adult connections, BBBS quickly grew to be the largest youth mentoring organisation in the world.

In 1996, the programme made its way to New Zealand. Having recently celebrated 25 years since its inception here, the programme now operates in 14 regions, employs 40 Mentoring Match Coordinators/Supervisors and supports over 950 Volunteer Mentors and their Mentees across the country.

Big Brothers Big Sisters – The Impact

An international study conducted by the Centre of Addiction and Mental Health Study on BBBS of Canada found that:

• Mentored girls & boys were two times less likely to exhibit conduct problems with boys showing a significant reduction in hyperactivity.
• Boys with a Big Brother are three times less likely to suffer peer pressure.
• Mentored boys and girls were two & three times less likely to have social anxiety.

Here in New Zealand, BBBS programme evaluations indicate that:

• 91% show improvements in their self-confidence.
• 84% show improvements in their relationships with adults.
• 76% show improvements in their attitude towards school.