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WELCOME How long have you been with the CP Society and what is your job? I joined the CP Society in February 2022 as the Partnerships and Fundraising Manager. My job is to raise funds and identify organisations where there is an alignment of values and purpose, to work alongside with to achieve our aims. What do you love about your job? Our Be Green & Be Seen campaign brought joy every day – whether it was a student sending in photos of their mufti day, or a business letting us know they have set up a movement challenge at their workplace to raise funds. What’s a successful day at work? A lot of effort goes into writing a proposal to persuade a trust, company or individual donor to make a gift towards our services, and there’s nothing like being rewarded with a ‘Yes’ email! If resources and funds weren’t an issue, what would you like to see our members enjoying? I’d like to see a future New Zealand where no-one faces barriers to employment if they are keen and willing. Where everyone can have the opportunity to experience, if they choose, the benefits that a job can bring including an increased income, improved wellbeing, and greater confidence. Meet our team Anne-Elise Smithson Each edition we introduce you to a CPS teammember. From the Chair Tēnā tātou katoa Happy NewYear from the Board. I hope the start of the year has gone well for everybody, and our Auckland members affected by the floods last month are doing ok. We, as a board, have enjoyed a bit of time off over Christmas and the New Year. We held our first meeting of the year in the last week of January and discussed the implementation of our newly updated strategic plan and key advocacy priorities, among other things. Thank you for those of you that voted at the AGM in October. We continue to be a strong board team and work well together. I am honoured to be continuing in the position of chairperson for another year, and I’m delighted to be working closely with Emma Lovett as vice chair and secretary, while Peter Wynne Jones continues as treasurer. The remit to remove family membership was passed at the AGM and has been implemented. The work on the deep dive project continues and we are really looking forward to the information gained from it so we can have a better understanding of how to support all our members who are living with Cerebral Palsy throughout the country. Over Christmas we were contacted by a representative of the European Academy of Childhood Disability (EACD) & International Allied Academies of Childhood Disability (IAACD) asking if we would like to join their network of organisations which currently compromises of more than 50 countries on five continents. The congress president of the next meeting (in 2025) Professor Rainer Blank, who is a child neurologist, let us know that he was going to be in New Zealand on holiday in early February. We (some of the board and the CPS team) took the opportunity to meet with him and make what we think is a really important connection. We will find out more about both the network and the congress and keep you posted. Please feel free to contact us on our new email address secretary@cpsociety.org.nz if you have any ideas, thoughts or feedback. Ngā manaakitanga Meg Smith President 4 | THE REVIEW JAN–APR 2023