'Time to stop turning a blind eye to poverty'

From left, Mayor John Carter, Bald Angels founders Therese Wickbom and Inky Vink, and Deputy Mayor Tania McInnes. Photo / Supplied

The winner of this year's Trustpower Far North Community Awards is urging people not to judge others for their poverty but to try to make a difference instead.

Kerikeri-based charity Bald Angels, which helps disadvantaged children around the Mid North, was named the supreme winner at the awards night at Kaitaia's Te Ahu Centre on Tuesday.

It was founded in 2012 by Therese Wickbom of Kerikeri and Inky Vink of Takou Bay, with what was supposed to be a one-off head-shaving fundraiser for sick children.

Through Hospice Mid Northland they met a family with a terminally ill father and five boys living in a garage, which opened their eyes to the dire conditions some Northlanders live in.

Since then the charity's activities have expanded into annual toy drives and food parcels for Christmas, a community garden, an "angel bear" scheme in which children are given a teddy bear and emergency contact numbers in times of trauma, distributing warm clothes, and more.

A second "Big Shave" in 2015 set a world record and raised more than $65,000. Bald Angels has no paid staff and a core of about 35 volunteers.

The charity doesn't provide its help directly to families but via agencies such as Te Hauora o Ngapuhi, Plunket, police and district nurses, who know where the need is greatest.

Mrs Wickbom said it was time "to stop turning a blind eye, pointing the finger and saying 'someone else has to do something'".

She also urged Northlanders who were privileged to have a supportive partner, to feel valued and to have life's basics necessities not to judge others harshly.

"There's a lot of 'It's their own fault, they should get off their butts' - but if people knew some of their stories they might start to understand why it's so hard sometimes to make the right choices," she said.

Mrs Vink said they went to the awards night in the hope of networking with some inspiring community groups and were "absolutely gobsmacked" to win. They had been too busy with charity work to enter but got a call from the organisers on the last day, saying people kept mentioning Bald Angels and they needed to be nominated. They filled in the form, sent it off, and thought little more of it.

Mrs Wickbom said the win was an acknowledgement of everyone who had been involved in Bald Angels, from the "astounding" sponsors to the 3000 people who attended the Big Shave.

It would also give the charity extra leverage when applying for funds in future, she said.

"If every small community in New Zealand could support their people like this community is starting to, we might actually start to make a difference. We might start to scratch the surface."