adventure runs through the veins of the latz siblings

The family of Nick Latz says that the impact the Champion Centre had on Nick's life is immeasurable. Nick (39) has Down syndrome and younger sister Annabelle will be running the Tarawera 100 miler Ultramarathon, in Rotorua in February to raise funds to fill the significant financial gap the Centre must fill every year.

Over 200 pre-school children with significant disabilities each year rely on the critical early intervention work by the Champion Centre. The Centre receives 78% of funding from the government and relies on grants and fundraisers for the rest. Unable to access some of its traditional funding streams due to Covid, the organisation is this year fighting to make up a shortfall of approximately $600,000.

Annabelle Latz remembers her bigger brother attend the Champion Centre and knows first-hand how much the early intervention therapy helped him to lead a full and independent life.

‘It’s a privilege to run ultramarathons, and an even bigger privilege to have Nick as my big brother, and have this opportunity to raise money for these youngsters who are starting on their very special journey,’ says Annabelle.

Nick and his sister Annabelle enjoy a walk and a laugh.

Nick’s parents Kate and Peter Latz say that the Champion Centre literally saved them after Nick was born. ‘From those initial feelings of being completely at a loss, we were reassured within hours of Nick’s birth that not only was help at hand, but that there was far more that was normal about our baby than not normal, and we should treat him as the precious baby boy that he was.’

‘As parents, we celebrated every milestone big and small and our initial despair became our greatest joy as we watched our beautiful boy embrace life,’ says Kate.

Nick wearing his bronze medal at the Special Olympics World Winter Games, South Korea.

Nick now lives independently in a self-contained unit in Rangiora, where a support worker visits in the evenings while he cooks his own dinner. Nick will often prepare a meal in the crockpot or use his Weber barbeque to cook some meat, and he makes ‘the best’ salads.

Nick loves to dance! He is currently planning his 40th birthday celebrations next March, which will include some great food, drinks and music. Music is a passion that runs in his family and he’s enjoyed many live concerts over the years; David Bowie, The Rolling Stones and Joe Cocker to name a few.

Conquering personal challenges seems to run through the veins of the Latz family. Ski enthusiast Nick started skiing at the age of eight under the wing of Skiing for the Disabled, with whom he spends almost every Saturday in winter up on the slopes training at Mt Hutt. In 2013, Nick won a bronze medal in the Alpine Skiing Intermediate Giant Slalom at the 10th Special Olympics World Winter Games, in South Korea.

​Nick works part-time at F.O.D (Fools of Desire), a café in Rangiora, where he washes dishes and enjoys the camaraderie with his workmates. On his morning break you will see him sipping on a cup of Bell tea.

​‘He’s grown into an awesome, confident guy, and that’s largely thanks to his early years at The Champion Centre. And he’s a rock n’ roller from way back, so it’s fitting that the funds I raise will be going straight to The Champion Centre’s music programme.’

‘As we’ve said in our family, Down syndrome is what Nick has, not what he is,’ says Annabelle. 

To give to Annabelle’s fundraising efforts:
https://givealittle.co.nz/fundraiser/httpswwwchampioncentreorgnz