Z Club of Christchurch Leads The Way

Z Club of Christchurch Leads The Way

The Avonside Girls' High Z Club is sponsored and supported by the Zonta Club of Christchurch-Canterbury. The aims of the Z Club are to serve the community and school to which it is affiliated and to this end have organised to take part in the Clean Up the World campaign on 15 September 2005 at Avonside Girls' High School where litter is a major issue.

"This is a very unique club in New Zealand and Zonta Club of Christchurch Canterbury is very proud to support an organisation of young people who really care for their school and the community"- Sharon Lingham, a spokesperson for Zonta.

The girls have participated in this project over the last 2 years and during that time the support by the girls and staff at Avonside Girls' High has grown beyond expectation.

The aim of the project is to create an awareness and respect for the environment in which we live and how each of us can contribute to making it a cleaner place. By teaching these skills in the school environment it is hoped that these young ladies will in turn pass on the lessons and caring attitude learnt to the next generation and may even enlighten our generation.

We are expecting somewhere between 100-200 volunteers and will give you an update after our clean up on 15 September 2005. Last year we had over one hundred and thirty volunteers.

This project is supported by the Christchurch City Council and to this end provide guidelines, rubbish bags, disposable gloves and arrange for the collection of the rubbish after the event.

The Avonside Girls' High Z Club was chartered in 1994 and is the only Z Club in NZ at this time.

The achievements over the last 11 years have been many and varied.

* Children from Canteen and Child Cancer have been taken on adventure weekends. One to the Lake Sumner area where they mountain biked and enjoyed outdoor activities. The second trip was an exploration of 3 days in the Lees Valley/Ashley Gorge area which was made possible by applying for and receiving funding from the Hillary Commission. This expedition involved learning about horses and riding and then setting out on an overnight camp-out in Lees Valley. The children learnt how to care for their horses and many new friendships were made. This was followed by a canoeing adventure on the Ashley River which proved very challenging for many.

* Over the last 8 years we have visited Cholmondeley Children's Home where the girls have assisted with the care of the children by reading to them, developing their creative abilities through arts and crafts and much more which benefits both Z Club girls and the children.

* Fund raising has taken many different forms from sausage sizzles, to "feeding the teachers" where the girls made muffins and provided fruit baskets for the teachers, film evening, rock and roll evening, disco for the Foundation for the Blind teenagers. This provided an interesting challenge for all as the decorations had to be those they could touch to give them the disco feeling together with the music. Sold chocolates, cookies and cards to raise funds also.

* Have taken the children from Cholomondeley on outings such as Ten Pin Bowling, Movies, picnics, Science Alive, Adventure Courses and Kids Feast.

* Assisted with the care of the children at Cholmondeley on the 75th Anniversary of the Home.

* At Avonside this year the girls have run a Health and Fitness week to raise awareness on these issues with over 400 students participating in this. Many businesses sponsored products and events to make this week a success with the girls working hard to co-ordinate events and make it happen.

* Speakers have been brought into the school on issues relating to violence and relationships and Harvest Festivals have been organised with proceeds of food to Cholmondeley one year and this year furniture, appliances, linen and food items being collect which then filled the Women's Refuge storage facility.

* Over the last 2 years the girls have assisted with Clean Up the World campaign and again this year they will be cleaning up Avonside Girls' High on Thursday 15 September 2005.

ENDS

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