Transition to Adulthood personal assistant Keith Robertson and Gardener Peter Hilliard are this month’s recipients of Dingwall Values Awards.
Keith (inset photo) is recognised as a walking example of the value nurture. The Transition to Adulthood team spent long periods working from home and remotely supporting rangatahi in the community during the pandemic. But in between times face-to-face visit have occurred, with the team returning to home base at Dingwall, where tamariki and rangatahi live.
Keith is scrupulous in taking every precaution to keep himself and others safe from the virus. As well as being fully vaccinated, Keith submits to a weekly PCR test to make sure he is never at risk of passing it on. He is also a mask-wearing champion!
Keith says: “I believe it is a privilege to have these children and young people in our care. With care comes the responsibility to ensure their safety and that means eliminating risk as much as possible.”
Garden Pete, as his moniker implies, is the guardian of Dingwall’s organic community garden. The garden is the foundation of our health and wellbeing programme, where many life skills are learned. Pete gains a values award for Connection, recognising his ability to include everyone in the garden-based activities he helps organise and run.
“Gardening is something humans have done for thousands of years – the plants don’t mind who you are and where you have come from. I love it that my involvement here is an activity that can be enjoyed by everybody of all ages, gender and culture. I’m happy to connect and work with any of the tamariki and rangatahi who show interest,” says Pete.
