One day the phone rang. It was a call from Noeline Holt, the Administration Officer at the Citizens Advice Bureau, Head Office. Would I join them for a morning tea meeting as they had a request to make.

         It turned out they wanted to improve the CAB clubs.  

         Would I be prepared to tour New Zealand and run some workshops on ways to improve communication in the various CAB districts.

         At that stage, I was semi-retired having set up Information Services in the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, and had written a book titled “Persuasive Ways”.  I readily agreed.

         I was told  CAB would pay all my expenses and permit me to sell my books at these workshops.

         This was an interesting experience as these workshops were held in many strange places from council chambers to indoor basketball courts – you never knew where you would end up.

         Today CAB is an amazing organization containing over 2,600 volunteers meeting in some 80 locations for people to seek free help to overcome their problems and for them to learn, know, and understand their rights.

         Many of the volunteers are retired professional people with vast experiences to share with the needy.

         Getting back to my workshops. I traveled the country dealing with whatever communication topic the particular group considered they needed to discuss. Often it was media releases, public speaking skills,  or ways to improve their newsletters.

         In the Auckland region, 175 people attended these workshops – at one workshop I had 25 JPs (Justice of the Peace).

         One of the interesting events was the CAB annual conference, held at Auckland University.

         A number of lecturers were going on at the same time and people could select their topics of interest. This meant the speaker need to repeat their lecture more than once. I was asked to speak on “The Ten Commandments of Public Speaking”.

         On Friday 22 November 1996, there was a Grand Parade and Opening Ceremony with a march up the middle of Queen Street, the main street in Auckland.

         At least 800 people were in this parade. There were bands and horses and most people were carrying banners. I was given one with the word “Tutor” on it – most embarrassing!

         At the top of Queen Street, at the Aotea Centre,  the Mayor and City Council met us and put on a special tea for the officials and speakers.

         Today it looks like the Mayor of Auckland and the City Council will be cutting all financial support for CABs as part of their budget cuts – how times have changed, and not necessary for the best. You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening those that support them. 

Geoffrey Moss(mossassociates.co.nz)

“We get much satisfaction when we help others and when we feel we are needed.”