Early Pink Shirt Day celebration of diversity for Alzheimer’s Gisborne-Tairāwhiti

Alzheimer's Gisborne-Tairawhiti/Sherwood Club volunteer Mike Jackson serves morning tea to Gwen Lardeli, left, and East Coast MP Dana Kirkpatrick to commemorate Pink Shirt Day.

East Coast MP Dana Kirkpatrick says Alzheimer’s Gisborne-Tairāwhiti does incredible work in the community despite operating on “the smell of an oily rag”.

Kirkpatrick was the guest of Alzheimer’s Gisborne-Tairāwhiti as the organisation celebrated an early Pink Shirt Day.

Sherwood Club clients, many wearing pink, prepared morning tea featuring cheese rolls and cupcakes with pink icing.

Despite the fun day, Pink Shirt Day conveys an important message.

“It’s an anti-bullying campaign that celebrates diversity and creates an environment where all people can feel safe, valued and respected,” said Alzheimer’s Gisborne-Tairāwhiti manager Tracy Robinson.

“We want to highlight this in the Sherwood Club to acknowledge that we support people with dementia who can be easy targets for bullying.

“They deserve the same respect as everybody else.”

Robinson said bullying was a serious issue in New Zealand, with one in five in the workforce reporting they had been bullied.

Kirkpatrick said staff and carers at Alzheimer’s Gisborne-Tairāwhiti and the Sherwood Club did incredible work in the community for those who suffered from dementia-related conditions.

“I met with whānau members who told me the club was a critical support network for them as well – for someone to talk to, to share their concerns with, and someone who understood what the family is going through.

“It’s also fair to say this service is done off the smell of an oily rag and so any volunteer hours would be gratefully received for fundraising, maintenance, lawn mowing and helping to care for clients.”

Pink Shirt Day is actually on May 16 this year.

“We were so keen to celebrate this day that we chose an earlier day,” Robinson said.