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Family Help Trust patrons & kaumatua



Dame Silvia Cartwright

PATRON, His Honour Judge Andrew Becroft, Principal Youth Court Judge of New Zealand. In 1986 he helped establish the Mangere Community Law Centre and worked as its senior solicitor until 1993. He then worked as a criminal barrister in South Auckland until his appointment to the District Court in 1996, then as Principal Youth Court Judge in 2001. He is married with three children, and is a keen sports watcher (but an average participant). He is a strong advocate of youth issues.

Lesley Max

PATRON, Lesley Max, MBE, has been a strong advocate for New Zealand children for many years. She is CEO of the Pacific Foundation - "helping children, young people and families to flourish" - and has been an enthusiastic supporter of the Family Help Trust since its inception in 1990.


KAUMATUA, Koka Heeni Phillips, has iwi affiliations with Kahungunu, Rongowhakaata, Rongomaiwahine, Ruapani and Ngati Porou. She has been a practitioner of Rongoa Maori (traditional Maori healing) since 1984, a 40-year campaigner for Te Reo Maori and Kapahaka, and a staunch advocate of the Kohanga Reo movement since 1981. In 2000 she established Te Rapana Trust to promote and protect the right of Maori to practise Rongoa.


The following are previous Patrons, whose contributions we acknowledge and treasure:

Dame Sylvia Cartwright
Patron, 2004 - 2006
Governer-General of New Zealand from 2001-2006, Dame Sylvia was always a keen supporter of our work and spoke out frequently about this country's poor record on child abuse.

Dame Ann Ballin
Patron, 2000 - 2003
Dame Ann was a trustee of Family Help Trust for about 10 years. In 2000, when her mobility was quite compromised and she could no longer attend board meetings, she was appointed as our National Patron. Dame Ann became involved in our work because she could see the importance of interrupting generational dysfunction. Helping us with our work also had the potential of decreasing the number of victims. She died in 2003.


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