Birthright Hawke's Bay Child & Family Care teamed up with the Napier Blue Light team to offer 20 intermediate school age boys the opportunity to go to Camp Kaitawa at Lake Waikaremoana over the April school holidays.

Lake Waikaremoana is 66 kms north-west of Wairoa and is a “well known secret” for local holiday makers, fishermen and hunters.

The 5-day camp provided the opportunity for the boys to build positive youth and Police partnerships with fun and engaging activities.

For Birthright Hawke's Bay Child & Family Care it provided the ideal setting for its Social Workers in schools to get to know the students out of school, and to help the boys develop social and personal skills, forge friendships and positive social behaviours – all in a safe and adventure-type setting.

Senior Constable Kevin Marshall was keen to point out that these types of activities really help build relationships and leadership skills, showing youth that life can be different than what they may experience at home and that we all have choices in life.

Sharon Allan, Practice Manager for Birthright Hawke's Bay, adds that some of the softer messages were built around setting personal goals and boundaries, showing respect and that working collaboratively in teams, which often produces better outcomes than doing things solo – an important message to parents and whanau as well as the boys!

Trevor Adsett, Chief Executive of Birthright Hawke's Bay, sums up:  “Both the Blue Light and Birthright staff must be congratulated on the success of the five day camp.  The boys had a great time, experiencing boating, fishing, tramping and caving while learning more about our beautiful natural environment and appropriate behaviours to get along with others and work as a team.”