No images? Click here A few words from Spark Foundation: We know it’s been a tough year for everybody and we just wanted to reach out and say thank you for your commitment and mahi in being a hub for so many Kiwis, and supporting our work to help the issue of digital inequity in New Zealand. Skinny Jump wouldn’t be in so many homes in all the corners of Aotearoa without you, and we’re so grateful. To say thanks for everything you have done across 2021, the Skinny Jump team have funded one toy per partner for The Christmas Joy Store, covering 300 toys with a donation of $7,500. The Christmas Joy Store is a West Auckland-based shop where referred parents and caregivers will be given the opportunity to pick their own children’s gifts and pick up some Christmas food and treats with dignity. We’ve been told that your gifts will be supporting whānau through the MDM Women’s Refuge in surrounding suburbs. As we know too well, COVID-19 has only exacerbated the difficulties for Kiwi families this year, and we wanted to help bring some joy to tamariki this Christmas on your behalf. Safely delivering digital skills trainingMany delivery partners haven't been offering free classes for the last half of 2021 due to social distancing requirements. Thanks to Pete Gray from Whanganui District Libraries, we're now aware that this doesn't mean people have to be one metre apart from each other. Read more here about group gatherings in traffic light 'orange'. Working with adult learnersDIAA, Ako Aotearoa and ACE Aotearoa warmly invite trainers involved in any Stepping UP initiative, especially NZLPP funded staff, to attend one of three 1-day workshops. Hosted by Ako Aotearoa's Southern Services Manager, Jennifer Leahy, you will learn tools and techniques to enhance your digital classes and better understand your learners' needs. Workshops will be held 29 March 2022 in Christchurch, 31 March 2022 in Wellington, and 5 April 2022 in Auckland. Funding for travel is available for those outside these centres. Register your expression of interest here to receive further details in the new year. Free 6GB to stay over Summer!Skinny Jump customers get to keep their 6GB daily data to use from Monday to Friday between 9:00am and 3:30pm, that’s 30GB over the week! The bonus 6GB data will be loaded to their account automatically every Monday to Friday from 1 December 2021 all the way through until 31 March 2022. How can we reach you?With over 320 delivery partners, each with many staff, DIAA is keen to keep you up to date on our programmes and services. There are three ways we do this - the DIAA Blog, private Facebook group and eNewsletters. Please feel welcome to join the Blog and Facebook page (right), and let sue@diaa.nz know the email address of any colleagues currently not receiving our eNewsletters. Past copies can be found here. Promotional material in three languagesWant to kick start 2022 with a Skinny Jump promotion? Head to our Skinny Jump Resources page, scroll down to Promotional Materials and click on the Request Form to order posters in te reo Māori, Samoan and English. These are of no cost; simply fill in the online form and Spark Foundation will courier them to you. Ever talk to like-minded organisations about Skinny Jump and want to leave them with something to refer back to? Tick the Skinny Jump Informational Flyer when placing your order - it pretty much covers the service in a nutshell! Digital Wellbeing for All - Series 4Following on from our three successful series in 2021, DIAA is pleased to announce another opportunity to participate in these workshops. Participants will engage in 12 one-hour webinars and then use their learnings to deliver digital skills classes for people in their community. A special focus will be on internet safety but could include other Stepping UP modules. And lastly...a huge thanks to you all for your support of the Stepping UP Programme in 2021. We already have plans for initiatives next year; pivoting to ensure our content is relevant to your learners' digital skills needs. We look forward to working with you all in 2022 and wish you a safe and relaxing festive season. Standing left to right: Sue Kini, Alistair Fraser, Laurence Zwimpfer, Eleanor Dashfield |