History

In 1904, a young New York City court clerk named Ernest Coulter was seeing more and more boys come through his courtroom. He recognised that caring adults could help many of these kids stay out of trouble, and he set out to find volunteers.

At about the same time, the members of a group called Ladies of Charity were befriending girls who had come through the New York Children’s Court.

These two initiatives marked the beginning of what has become an international organisation, operating in 13 countries, and serving over 280,000 children in need. The organisation remains true to the founder’s vision of bringing caring mentors into the lives of children and young people.

Big Brothers Big Sisters History in New Zealand

The first New Zealand Big Brothers Big Sisters programme was established in Dannevirke, where the initial mentor match was made in November 1996.

Then, in 1997, the Nelson programme was set up and with the success of the programme came requests from people and organisations around the country wishing to start  similar mentoring programmes.

From 2002, the Nelson agency led the development of the Big Brothers Big Sisters programme, as local communities around New Zealand requested support to set up the BBBS model in their areas.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of New Zealand, as a national organisation, was incorporated in June 2004 and officially launched on 9th September 2004 at a function in Wellington.