Bellyful North Waikato

Bellyful nourishes and connects communities by cooking and delivering meals to whânau with babies or young children, who need support.

A new baby in the whânau is exciting, but can also be exhausting, stressful and isolating at the best of times.

Pop your dog, food and drink in your vehicle and head your dog, and in your and head in south toward Hamilton. toward Hamilton. On the Whatawhata Road, turn on to Howden Road and head to the Taitua Arboretum for a relaxed stroll in shady tranquil surroundings. Here you will find trees, paddocks, ponds interspersed with a network of walking tracks.

Pop your dog, food and drink in your vehicle and head your dog, and in your and head

This 20-hectare green space not only provides a cool area to walk our dogs (on leash) in summer but has great elements to familiarize our dogs with. For instance, short bridges with plastic netting under foot. Short enough to encourage a dog uncertain across this type of surface.

Many feathered creatures – ducks, swans, cocks, hens, and small birds can be seen in the car park, in trees, by ponds and in undergrowth. Wait patiently for a while should your dog stop to stare then encourage him/her to walk. Great for teaching our dogs to leave other creatures, to do as we ask and walk on. A food treat can be used as encouragement to move on.

Cattle too can be seen trackside.

Again, let your dog stop and look at these animals for a while before encouraging them to walk on.

Consideration for others as we walk these tracks is expected. We will find those with no interest in dogs at all, some scared of dogs and those who wish to smother our dogs. You decide what your dog can handle and what suits as far as interaction with others is concerned. Have your set phrases handy for those who may wish to interact, but timing is wrong.

Along the way stop at one of the picnic areas provided, spread out food and drink; include your dog.

Taitua Arboretum provides not only a shady summer walk but lots of learning experiences for our dogs.

A A A A TRAINED DOG IS DOG DOG AN ENJOY ENJOY ENJOYABLE DOG ABLE ABLE

Extra stressors on the whânau such as illness (e.g., post-natal depression, premature babies, illness) and the lack of a good support network compound this stress. Support from their local community can help whânau through the tough times. Bellyful North Waikato provides this service with meals being delivered to families across the North Waikato area (including Te Kauwhata, Huntly, Taupiri and Ngaruawahia).

In North Waikato, 5 of our 10 volunteers come together every 6-8 weeks at a Cookathon held in a local community kitchen to cook up 62 meals which are frozen before being delivered. Bellyful supports whânau with babies or young children. Volunteers deliver the frozen meals to the recipient’s home. We have a very low barrier to access our service as there is no financial assessment, and referrals can easily be made by anybody via an online form or phone call. Referrals come from midwives, Plunket, health professionals, family and friends, and from families themselves. www.bellyful.org.nz or 0508BELLYFUL north.waikato@bellyful.org.nz

Our branch pays for its meal ingredients and operational costs by fundraising in the local community with events such as our garden ramble, photo fundraiser, raffles and with support from local businesses and organisations and grants. North Waikato Branch was fortunate to receive a very generous donation from Te Kauwhata & District Lions Club; this will help towards the cost of more than 150 meals - tçnâ koutou katoa.

The Realty Report for February 2023

Meg Daly Licensed Real Estate Sales Consultant

Harcourts Ngaruawahia REA 2008

For Buyers: Get more property for your money Get property for There are great deals to be had with many sellers disappointed and now highly motivated from not selling pre-Christmas. There were noticeably more sales in December due to the increase in first home buyer activity and renewed investor interest. Combine this with the significant decrease in the number of properties for sale and it’s reasonable to suggest buying now may be easier than waiting a couple of months.

For Sellers: Get noticed to get sold Get noticed sold

You are now competing to attract that one important buyer for your home. Become the most competitively priced, promoted and best presented property around. Your potential buyers are acutely aware of what else is on the market. You must be too. Stand out from the crowd with an auction profile or sharper pricing or greater promotion. Get noticed to get sold.

General General General General For the past 8 months there has been a holding off of real estate activity due to economical and political uncertainty. This has eased recently so expect a flurry of activity in the next 6 months due to pent up demand. Get into the market sooner rather than later to beat the crowd.