on... Auckland CCSG Inc.
Both the Auckland and Canterbury CCSGs were formed at around the same time in 1987. Joan Hawely in Christchurch and Glenda Cartwright in Auckland started the CCSG with resources they had sourced from around the world together with a tremendous amount of energy and dedication.
In Auckland, the first public meeting of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Support Group as it was first known, was held on May 3rd, 1987. Professor Graham Hill from Auckland Hospital supported Glenda in the formation of the CCSG and therefore it was appropriate that he was asked to be Patron of the Auckland group in 1988.
During 1988 and 1989 funding from The Lottery Grants Board and Sutherland Trust allowed the CCSG to be firmly established with some purchases of office equipment, establishment of the library and printing of information leaflets (No.s 1-7). The CCSG became an incorporated society in October 1989, and began to function pretty much as it does today.
Over the last 5 years, substantial funding from Lotteries Welfare and the ASB Charitable Trust, and the support of major sponsors AstraZeneca and Yamanouchi ( now Ferring Pharmaceuticals) has resulted in CCSG membership numbers increasing from 70 to 487. Even now, as it was in 1987, the Auckland CCSG is run by a small group of dedicated volunteers, most of whom suffer from IBD and also work full-time. The CCSG and its committee aims to give members the support and information they need to help them cope with IBD, but everyone is different.
Now in 2000, the Auckland CCSG offers 10 information leaflets, 42 different books and videos through our library, a Contact Service, database of IBD specialists, a monthly discussion group and a comprehensive web site.
We hope that the CCSG will continue to make a difference to the lives of patients with IBD, and their families and friends, despite it's limited resources and the voluntary nature of it's work.
More than ever before we have a network of CCSGs around the
country which continues to grow.
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