Your DNZ
AWARD WINNERS REPORT BACK Last year, Diabetes NZ gave awards to three young people with big goals. Meet Cooper Gough, Bridget Dalley, and Hannah Clark.
T
he John McLaren Youth Award recognises and encourages young people who are overcoming the obstacles presented by their diabetes while achieving highly in particular areas. This award offers a scholarship to three young people living with diabetes who are aiming high in their chosen fields. COOPER GOUGH: SPORT
The John McLaren Youth Award for Sports was awarded to 14-year-old Cooper. The Invercargill college student has been dedicating himself to Taekwondo since he was eight and has since gone on to excel in the martial art. Cooper has a number of gold medals under his black belt. In the last couple of years, he has won gold at the Black Belt Cadet division of the Top of the South Taekwondo Championships, another at the Budo South Open Taekwondo Championships, and yet another at the South Island Taekwondo Championships. Last year, when he was in Tahiti, he brought home three medals, in three days, from three international tournaments. Cooper’s next big adventure is travelling to Australia for the Oceania Taekwondo Presidents Cup and then the Australian Taekwondo Open in July. Cooper used the Award funds to help him get to international competitions, including one in Tahiti last year and Queensland this year.
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DIABETES WELLNESS | Spring 2023
Cooper Gough
Bridget Dalley
The support crew (Gough family) is tacking a short holiday on after the competition. In true Cooper style, this doesn’t involve much down-time but will include competing in the children’s run during the Gold Coast Marathon.
awards, including the school’s Celebrate Design Award, another in Technical Excellence, and the Bernina HETTANZ (Home Economics and Technology Teachers Association of New Zealand) in the sustainable sewing category.
BRIDGET DALLEY: CULTURAL
HANNAH CLARK: ACADEMIC
Bridget is in her final year of studying for a Bachelor of Design (Fashion) at Otago Polytechnic – Kai Tahu Māori. She has been selected to attend a semester at the prestigious University of Applied Arts in Vienna, Austria, this year. Bridget says this will fulfil a dream she has had to study overseas at this respected university. Not an easy school to be accepted into, an internet search brings up notable alumni, including Gustav Klimt and Oskar Kokoschka. Bridget says the John McLaren Youth Award funds will be used towards travel and accommodation costs in Vienna. Bridget says the University of Applied Arts is known for its impressive teaching of knitting and weaving skills, which she hopes to learn more about, thereby bringing those skills back to share with students in New Zealand. Bridget has excelled in her study at Otago. She’s won a number of
Fellow South Islander Hannah has started her first year of the Bachelor of Nursing degree through the Southern Institute of Technology (SIT) – Te Whare Wānanga o Murihiku in Invercargill. She says it’s a dream she has had for a long time. Her award funds were used for course-related fees, including the latest text books, medical equipment, stationery costs, and transport between SIT and placements. During the course there is a focus on health advocacy, cultural understanding, and Te Whare Tapa Whā (Māori health models). With her nursing degree, Hannah says, she will ensure the health care space she works in will be respectful and kind. Hannah says, that ‘as a type 1 wanting to go into a health care career, I would love to be able to advocate for people like me, fighting stereotypes about diabetes judgement and discrimination.’
