February 2026
2025 was an incredible year for Cholmondeley Children's Centre as we proudly celebrated our 100th anniversary. Marking a century of care and reaching the extraordinary milestone of supporting more than 33,000 children and their families is an achievement we are immensely proud of.
Over the course of the year, we had the pleasure of connecting with many new supporters and former Cholmondeley children. Hearing their memories and stories has been both inspiring and deeply meaningful to us.
We ended 2025 on a high note, with Ballantynes and Merivale Mall Christmas gift wrapping in support of Cholmondeley. We extend our heartfelt thanks to the individuals, businesses, and organisations who generously donated gifts, food, time and much-needed funds to help support our families over the holiday season.
This momentum followed the success of our Give a Hundy campaign, through which we proudly raised $100,000 in honour of 100 years of care.
Thank you to the incredible Canterbury community and supporters beyond. We are your charity, and we simply would not be here without your generosity, belief, and ongoing support.
2026 is already off to a positive and productive start at Cholmondeley Children’s Centre. Today, as we mark Children’s Day, Te Rā o Ngā Tamariki, a national celebration dedicated to honouring the joy, creativity, and potential of children across New Zealand, we are reminded why our work matters so deeply. We are also looking forward to celebrating our 101st birthday on 7 March and to continuing the vital work that has supported tamariki and whānau for more than a century.
We’re excited to welcome four new ACVE volunteers from Germany and Japan. They’ve settled in quickly and are already making a real difference across our operations with their infectious energy and positivity.
As you’ll see in our Centre Update, our children have enjoyed a range of activities through our Summer Holiday Programme. Outdoor play is central to our work, giving children safe, nurturing spaces to learn, grow, and have fun.
Looking ahead, we remain focused on continuous improvement, ensuring our services meet best-practice standards and achieve the very best out outcomes for the children and families we support. We are also looking forward to new opportunities to connect more closely with our community partners and supporters as the year unfolds, strengthening the relationships that make our work possible.
The Cholmondeley Team
Kind regards,
Katie McCullough
Interim General Manager
Centre Update - Tamariki Take on Antarctica
January and February have brought a mix of weather, giving children the chance to enjoy a variety of activities. On sunny days, we’ve visited the nearby Governors Bay pool, gone coasteering (climbing, jumping, and discovering rock pools along the coast), made trips to local farms, and enjoyed the century-old favourite of searching for crabs.
When the weather hasn’t played along, our children have been getting creative indoors as part of the Build on Ice Antarctic challenge run by Imagination Station. Using special packs of coloured LEGO bricks, our young builders have crafted imaginative Antarctic-themed creations, from Hercules planes and polar bears to penguins and icy landscapes. The children have also been encouraged to write about their idea, design process, and the story behind their build.
We're hoping that one of our children might be lucky enough to win the competition and get the chance to have a live Zoom chat with a scientist at Scott Base in Antarctica!
Forever Kindness: Remembering Aunty Jean QSM
Pictured Jean Ruddenklau QSM with Melanie Gresty
It is with much sadness that we share the passing of Jean Ruddenklau QSM (83), known to us less formally as ‘Aunty Jean’, Cholmondeley's longest gift giver and supporter.
Aunty Jean’s life motto was ‘forever kindness’ and she showed this to the children at Cholmondeley through regularly sending books, knitting hats, creating paintings for the bedrooms, writing letters to us, and making donations.
Aunty Jean did like to chat and having lived such a very busy and varied life, was always very interesting to talk to. The last time the children saw Aunty Jean was in December, just before Christmas. A group of our children visited the care home where she lived and shared a morning tea with Aunty Jean and her friends there. Singing and cake eating which was enjoyed by all.
From all of us at Cholmondeley, and personally, it was a privilege to know you Aunty Jean and we appreciate everything you did for us over the years. We will remember you so very fondly.
Melanie Gresty - Cholmondeley Care Coordinator
ILAM Toyota Branch Manager Paul Taylor hands over the keys to our thrilled raffle winner, Gary Whall.
A Win for Gary, A Win for Cholmondeley
While Gary Whall may have driven away in a brand-new Toyota Corolla as the winner of our recent raffle, the true highlight has been the strength of support from our community.
Selling tickets was no small task. That makes the commitment of everyone who took on raffle books and championed Cholmondeley all the more appreciated.
Mel Hillier, Graffiti Projects Coordinator from the Christchurch City Council presenting the proceeds of the Council's 2025 cabinets calendar initiative to Nat, our Learning Facilitator.
When Graffiti Pays Off: Council Supports Cholmondeley
This week we were delighted to welcome Mel Hillier, Graffiti Projects Coordinator from the Christchurch City Council Graffiti Team, to Cholmondeley Children's Centre to present the proceeds from the Council’s 2025 cabinets calendar initiative.
The cabinet art project sees telecommunications cabinets beautified around Christchurch by local artists, helping beautify neighbourhoods and reduce tagging. The designs are selected each year and feature in a calendar celebrating community creativity and urban art, with twelve artworks showcased annually.
Cholmondeley was the chosen recipient of the calendar sales. The donation will be used to purchase classroom supplies, enhancing learning experiences for the tamariki who stay with us.
During the visit, a highlight was agreeing to get involved with the “What’s cool about your school or community?” cabinet initiative. Nat, our lead teacher, will work with a group of students to design and paint a nearby Waterways council cabinet, and their artwork will be featured in next year’s calendar.
A huge thank you to Mel, the Graffiti Team, and everyone involved.
34th Annual Cholmondeley Golf Tournament
Our 34th Annual Cholmondeley Charity Golf Tournament, proudly presented by ILAM Toyota, was a fantastic day on the greens, and raised $25,000
With the rain holding off and plenty of friendly competition, teams took to the course at Russley Golf Club for a memorable day of golf and giving. We even came incredibly close to giving away a Toyota Highlander after this impressive hole-in-one attempt that just missed from team PWC.
Congratulations again to our top three:
1. Reform Radiology
2. AKD Holdings
3. ANZ
A huge thank you to everyone who sponsored a hole, supported the raffles and auctions, and took part in the course activations, including the Chipping Toilet activation led by Jacob, who has been part of the Cholmondeley family for many years. He was chuffed that with his help the activation managed to raise over $400.
Keen for next year? Click here for more details:
Upcoming Events
Street Appeal
We need your help!
We're getting organised for our annual Street Appeal and we're looking for volunteers.
Our Street Appeal will run from 10am-6pm across Friday 27th and Saturday 28th March, with teams of volunteers at various locations around Christchurch collecting money for Cholmondeley.
If you can help us out by committing to a two-hour slot on one of these days, we would be so grateful.
Register below: