Consumer Events
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Parents of Vision Impaired NZ (PVI)
PVI are holding their Annual Conference on the 26, 27 and 28 October 2007 at the Waipuna Hotel in Auckland. The theme for this year's conference is "Sweet Harmony". Parents are urged to attend this conference, as it is always a valuable experience. PVI would like to thank the RNZFB for its continued support of the conference. For more information, please contact PVI on 0800 312 019.
Retina New Zealand Inc
Retina NZ Inc is holding its National Annual General Meeting at the RNZFB office in Christchurch on Saturday 15 September to coincide with Retina Awareness Week. For more details, please contact the national office on ph: 04 299 1801, or email: secretary@retina.org.nz.
Blind Sport success
Two 14-year-old members found success at the biennial International Blind Sports Federation World Youth and Student Championships held on 11-16 July.
Mary Fisher from Upper Hutt won six swimming titles and Daniel Holt from Albany won four swimming titles. Both athletes won every race they competed in (with one exception). They competed in the under-15-years division in the B3 category (i.e. their sight is between 2/60 and 6/60, which means that what a person with 20/20 vision can see at 60 meters, they can see between two and six metres).
Mary competed in the 50m and 100m butterfly, 50m backstroke and the 50m, 100m and 200m freestyle. In winning, she beat competitors from Russia, Brazil and the USA.
Daniel competed in the 50m and 100m backstroke and the 100m and 200m freestyle. His nearest rivals were from Brazil, Mexico and Australia.
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New Zealand came away from the championship with 10 gold medals, which is an unprecedented result.
Congratulations to Mary and Daniel and to Christine Curtis, their coach!
The World Championships in athletics, goalball, judo and swimming are held every two years in Colorado Springs, USA.
Athletes win at World Championships
Tim Prendergast and Daniel Sharp have both come home winners from the International Blind Sports Federations (IBSA) 3rd World Championships in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Tim (ex-Wellington) picked up a gold in the 5000m track and a silver in the 1500m track. Daniel (Waitakere) also won gold - in his 200m breaststroke event – and picked up silver for his 100m breaststroke race.
The championships had 1500 competitors from over 60 countries and are held every four years. For Tim and Daniel competing in their sports meant that they were also in qualifying events for the Beijing Paralympics in 2008.
Tauranga holiday home
If you feel like a seaside break - how about taking some time out at the Foundation holiday home in Tauranga? The bach is a two-bedroom place that sleeps six, with a two-minute walk to the beach in Matua, Tauranga. It is available to members for $50 per night.
Please contact the Tauranga office on 0800 24 33 33 to find out more.
Ahoy! Sailing School for adult members
If there are any members out there interested in learning how to sail, now's your chance! The RNZFB is hosting a weekend called "Introduction to sailing" on the 3-4 November. It will be based out of Westhaven marina in Auckland, and no previous sailing experience is required; just an interest in sailing and a desire to learn. For more information or to register please contact Glynis Smith, Auckland Recreation Advisor ph: 09 355 6595 or your local Recreation Advisor.
RNZFB Complaints Policy
We welcome your feedback, which helps ensure we are providing quality services. We appreciate your compliments and we aim to resolve your concerns and/or complaints in a professional and understanding manner. If these cannot be sorted at the source, you may wish to take the matter further by contacting the manager concerned or the complaints co-ordinator, Adrienne Henderson (DM Quality Assurance) PO Box 2237, South Dunedin or ph 03 466 4230.