Family membership guidelines

Do you have a Family membership with the Supporters of Tiritiri Matangi? And do you now have adult children who are still part of that Family membership?

If so, please be aware that the SoTM management committee recently approved some specific guidelines around who can be included in a Family membership:

• One or two adults who reside at the same address – usually one adult holds the membership and is known as “head of household”; while the other is a “household member”,

• Any number of children aged 18 or under, who usually reside at the same address (we understand there are some blended families out there).

If your children are now older than 18, perhaps it is time to consider another type of membership for them:

• Student membership for full-time students, $13 annually

• Individual/Family membership for adults over 18 years, $25 annually.

If your over-18 students and/or adult children still reside with you, there is no need to take out a separate membership. However, they cannot be included in any SoTM specials and, when using your membership to visit the Island, both Explore (ferries) and DOC (accommodation) have different criteria.

If your adult children now reside elsewhere, please encourage them to take out their own membership, or perhaps gift them a separate one. They may even have their own partner and/or family to include. This will help to grow our membership and would be greatly appreciated by our organisation of volunteers and supporters.

To check your current membership, visit the member portal using your email address and password at https://portal. tiritirimatangi.org.nz/.

To join up your over-18 Student or Individual members, each person should visit the SoTM website https://www. tiritirimatangi.org.nz/support-us/ and join independently.

If you have any questions, or need us to update your family membership details, please contact us at membership@ tiritirimatangi.org.nz. If you wish to add children to your family membership, please provide their full name and date of birth. Thank you, Membership team, SoTM

Hihi highlights

Many overseas volunteers spend time on Tiritiri Matangi. Each leaves with their own treasured memories.

“Volunteering as a research assistant for the hihi recovery project has been an amazing experience. I will miss the landscape, the wildlife and the people, and I hope one day I will be back!”

That was how Alex Marshall felt after spending summer on the Island.

Alex (shown above holding a hihi chick) is on a working holiday from the UK, after having graduated with a BSc in zoology and working as an ecology and community outreach officer for three years.

“After seeing the hihi research assistant role advertised on the DOC volunteering website, I applied and was successful. Tiritiri Matangi became my home away from home for three months and what an incredible place to call home it was.

“I spent every day walking in the bush monitoring the hihi, which beforehand I knew very little about, but by the end of the season I had learned all about them and their ecology, and I began to recognise their individual characters. I was also given the opportunity to learn how to band the chicks – and drive an LUV (light utility vehicle) which, although daunting at first, became my favourite thing to do.”

Alex looked forward to a swim in the sea after a day of walking in the heat –“when it wasn’t raining”, she adds.

“Everyone on the Island works incredibly hard, both volunteers and staff, behind the scenes and on the ground – they are all super knowledgeable and so dedicated to conservation, it was a privilege to share the space with them.”

Alex is now on a road trip around the rest of the country.