Back to Blog

A word from Cynthia

Kia ora koutou, It is the close of another year where we have navigated uncertainty, COVID, and a country and community that is experiencing first hand the challenge of a struggling economy. Yet, here at True Colours, we are continuing to provide care and support to families who are living with a child who has a health condition.  Or providing grief support to families who have experienced the loss of their baby, child, or young person. The families we walk alongside who are ...

Demi's story

Our journey started back in August 2019 when our then 16-week-old baby Demi was diagnosed with Bilateral Retinoblastoma (to put simply, cancer of the eyes).My husband Luke had read a Stuff article a few months before Demi was born about a white eye reflect as opposed to red when taking photos with the flash on.He had noticed this white eye on Demi, so we obtained a referral to Bridgewater where the eye specialist told us on the spot, he believed she would lose her left eye and to go home and pre...

Christmas Music Bingo

Don't miss our final fundraiser of the year - Music Bingo at The Keg Room in Rototuna.Tickets $25 each - with prizes up for grabs!  And all money of course coming to True Colours.It's on next Tuesday 14th December at 6.30pm.  Grab some friends and get together for some fun and fundraising as we head into the final burst towards Christmas.Email admin@truecolours.org.nz for tickets....

It's the Little Things

It’s always the little things that matter.  Ko nga mea iti i nga wa katoa he mea nui. In this year of COVID-19 lockdown again, it has allowed time for further reflection.  There are screeds of information available via different sites on social media on how to help us maintain our resiliency in uncertain times.  Mental health sites share their rich knowledge in ways we can take care of ourselves to assist in reducing anxiety, fear and those things that might increase our cortiso...

Long Lunch 2021

Due to Covid restrictions meaning the cancelling of what would have been the 15th Kerr & Ladbrook True Colours Long Lunch, we turned all the generous donations received by businesses and families in our community into an online auction.  We appreciate everyone who either donated their original tickets to the Long Lunch back to us, or who registered and bid in the auction as we ended up making around $82,000.  Not what we would have made if we'd been able to hold our event, but a great ...

Thank you for your support in 2020

What a year 2020 has been!  Who could have predicted what lay ahead for us at the start of the year when we had never even heard of Covid-19.  Despite the challenges that this year has bought we have been overwhelmed with the level of support that has continued to flow our way.  A massive thank you to everyone that has supported True Colours in 2020.  Your support means the world to us.  Here are a few of the highlights: Cambridge Christmas FestivalEach year the Cambridg...

Reflecting on 16 years supporting Waikato families

You never quite know what life is going to throw at you. As we take a moment to reflect on the 16-year anniversary of True Colours, the world is dealing with a global pandemic that no one could have predicted.  It has changed the way we go about our daily lives for the past few months and will continue to have an ongoing impact as we move into a new way of being for some time to come....

Mason Cowen | High Risk Neuroblastoma

I remember the day vividly. I don’t think I’ll ever forget it.  Mason was only 18 months old.   I took him to the doctors early in the morning, he didn’t have any symptoms but my mother’s instinct and a gut feeling told me something was wrong.  It seemed that there was something wrong with his vision.  He had bumped into the couch with his tummy first, then his hands.   I remember thinking to myself “please don’t be a tumor” but I told myself off,...

International Bereaved Mother’s Day | A Mother’s Story

It’s 4.30am, and I don’t know what the time was when I woke up, but I’ve given up trying to get back to sleep – nothing new there!  I’m now sitting at the kitchen bench, wrapped in my favourite spotty dressing gown and I have no idea what I’m going to write.   I’ve been asked to share something about my experience as a bereaved mother, in time for this year’s International Bereaved Mother’s Day.  Simply, I wish that I didn’t even have to write this because...

Coping with Coronavirus – Helpful Strategies

The rapid spread of Coronavirus has changed the world  forever.As we watched the outbreak of Coronavirus in China from afar, who could have predicted that in a few short weeks it would extend to New Zealand and change the way we live so significantly?  It really is a strange time, one of uncertainty and anxiety for so many.While the country is currently adapting to a new way of life, it is one that is familiar to the families True Colours support.  When a child has a serious healt...

Living our values in lockdown

When the world is in crisis and it appears our choices are taken away, how do we respond in a time of lockdown?  You hear the age old saying, “it brings out the best in people and the worst in people”. We are already witnessing this as the lock down time unfolds.  Many internationally are breaking into song or dance to distract themselves  from their challenging situations. Others are starting up fundraising sites to support our front line workers, or vulnerable families and o...

Looking after yourself during Coronavirus

These are challenging times for everyone, especially if you have a child who is already vulnerable.  Now more than ever it is important to take time to look after yourself, to acknowledge your emotions and look at ways that you can support yourself.Here are a few articles that we hope will offer you some help and guidanceSelf care in the time of CoronavirusReal time Resilience Strategies How to Stay Mentally Healthy During the Coronavirus PandemicCoronavirus Has Upended Our World. It�...

Coronavirus – Entertaining the Kids

With the country in lock down for at least a month, children will be at home and wanting things to do. We have put together some ideas to help keep them entertained....

Headspace – meditation and mindfulness

Here are some articles to help you support your children through the Coronavirus Pandemic10 Tips for Talking about Covid-19 with your KidsHelping Kids deal with Anxiety during uncertain timesHow to give your kids stability when Corona Virus closes schools How to Explain Coronavirus to Kids ...

Charlotte Smith | Living with a rare condition

Six year old Charlotte is a total diva.   She loves fashion, dancing and wants to be a popstar when she grows up.  She is super affectionate and so incredibly smart and intuitive beyond her years.   Charlotte also lives with a rare health condition.  We first noticed that something wasn’t quite right with Charlotte when she was six weeks old. She wasn’t digesting her milk well and she slept a lot.  Our midwife and then Plunket nurse were both concerned enou...

Living with a rare disease

For some children with a serious health condition, one of the biggest battles they will face is finding a diagnosis.  When a health condition is rare, it can take a number of years, and assessed by multiple doctors before a diagnosis can be made. According to the Journal of Rare Disorders it takes on average 4.8 years from symptom onset to accurate diagnosis for a patient aged 0-20 years.  They will see on average 7.3 physicians before receiving an accurate diagnosis. Meanwhile parents...

Westpac Waikato Business Awards Winner 2019

November 2019, saw True Colours win the Not for Profit Category at the Westpac Waikato Business Awards. We were incredibly humbled and honoured to win the award on the night and want to say thank you to our fellow finalists Kia Puawai and Soda Inc for the amazing work they do in the community. It was the second time True Colours had entered the awards, making it to the finals in 2012. We enjoyed a wonderful evening at the awards night and it was great to see so many of t...

Thank you for your support!

A big thank you to everyone that has supported True Colours over the past 6 months.  Your support means the world to us.  Here are a couple of highlights: Dairy Goat Co-operative Trust  We were grateful to receive $4645 from the Dairy Goat Co-operative Trust in August.   The trust was established in 2017 with the aim of strengthening communities through charitable donations in the Co-operative’s shareholder regions.   Their funding focuses on improv...

Mitchell Law | Neuro-Degenerative Disorder

After a normal pregnancy, our world was completely turned upside down 36 hours after our son Mitchell was born. We were urgently transferred to Waikato Hospital NICU, as Mitchell was having blue episodes, or breathing apnoea’s, and twitching that soon developed into more noticeable and longer seizures. The medical team on-deck began the difficult process of trying to stabilise and control the situation. The tests, monitors, alarms, and the drugs were scary! This stuff only happened on TV, or s...

Living with uncertainty – the siblings voice

“When your brother or sister is in hospital, you don’t know what is going on… it’s the thought, when they go into hospital; what’s going to happen, and wondering if they’re going to make it back or anything”. These are the words of one of the siblings who participated in my PhD research (An evaluation of a model of care for children with serious illnesses and their families).  It was a stark reminder of the huge uncertainty healthy siblings live with when their brother or...

Jessica Lipsey | Type 1 Diabetes

Jessica was 3 months off her 6th birthday when her life turned upside down. All of a sudden our little girl lost a lot of weight, was having terrible mood swings and was drinking gallons of water. At first we thought she was coming down with a bug, but a quick visit to the doctor resulted in a week-long stay in hospital and a diagnosis of Type 1 Diabetes. A couple of months later we received confirmation that she also has Celiac disease. All of a sudden there’s a long list of foods she can’t...

Jacob Bell | Brain Tumour

What started out as a series of bad headaches for seven year old Jacob Bell, turned out to be the warning sign for a far more serious diagnosis. As the severity of Jacobs headache increased and his coordination became affected one day, his Mum Mel took him to the Emergency Department. While there Jacob had an MRI which showed he had a 4cm posterior fossa tumour in his right cerebellum which was pressing hard against his brain stem. ...

Kerr & Ladbrook True Colours Long Lunch 2018

++This event is sold out++ We are gearing up for another wonderful day filled with good food, drink, entertainment and company as we celebrate Melbourne Cup Day in style. We cant wait to share this day with our guests on the 6th November. We couldn’t put on this event without the amazing support of our community. We are blessed to be surrounded by organisations and individuals who embrace our vision and choose to support this event year after year.  A massive thank you to everyone that he...

Hamilton Half Marathon – 30th September 2018

We are excited to be the charity partner of the Direct Group Hamilton Half Marathon  for 2018, as they celebrate their 15th anniversary. This is a great family event, and we are looking forward to being involved again on the day.  The kids we support face so many incredibly hard challenges every day with such bravery and determination.  This event will also challenge many and we would love entrants to set themselves a challenge to RUN FOR THE KIDS and help raise funds fo...

Dominic Edgecombe | A long road to diagnosis

Four year old Dominic Edgecombe’s favourite food is salmon. Raw or cooked he doesn’t mind. For his Mum Karena watching her son enjoying his food is something she will never take for granted, as she knows first-hand the struggle they have been through to get to this point. Right from when he was born Dominic struggled to put on weight. At just 2 days old he lost 500g and couldn’t put it back on, resulting in him staying in hospital for another week before he was allowed home. This was to be...