Grandparents Raising Grandchildren conference

Grandparents Raising Grandchildren conference will empower and inspire

Grandparents Raising Grandchildren (GRG) is to hold its members conference this Wednesday 5th and Thursday 6th of March. Titled ‘Empowering Grandparents Raising Grandchildren’, the conference will provide inspiring and empowering insights into the key issues affecting grandparents raising grandchildren on a full-time basis.

The conference, being held at the NOVOTEL Hotel in Ellerslie, Auckland, will feature a keynote address from Social Development Minister, Paula Bennett, as well as highly-acclaimed speakers including Nigel Latta, Principal Family Court Judge Laurence Ryan, Paediatrician and Brainwave Trust member, Simon Rowley, and Pat Buckley from Amped4Life.

With a membership of over 5,500 across New Zealand, GRG is at the forefront of improving the lives of the more than 6,000 grandchildren being raised by their grandparents on a full-time basis.

Never have the challenges of raising (grand)children been more demanding but as one of GRG’s members says:

“Having two little boys again is hard. You don’t fit in with the ‘normal’ grandparents and you don’t fit in with the other ‘parents’ as you are really neither. But, when you are feeling as if the world is against you and a little hand goes in yours and a little voice tells you they love you and are the best, it makes all the hassles worth it.”

The conference comes after a fantastic 12 months, where Grandparents Raising Grandchildren won the ‘Community of the Year’ Award at the 2013 New Zealander of the Year Awards. The award was testimony to the achievements of GRG over the last 14 years, but more importantly, was a tribute to the thousands of grandparents who are raising their grandchildren because their parents are unable to.

“The conference aims to inspire and empower our grandparents as well as give them respite for two days!” says Grandparents Raising Grandparents CEO, Geoff Lawson.

“It also gives us all a chance to acknowledge the sacrifices they make in raising their beloved grandchildren. They are the true heroes in our society.”

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