About Us
Kidney Kids is a non-profit organisation established in 1990 to support children with kidney disease and/or urinary tract disorders and their whānau nationwide.
Starship Children’s Health is the main hospital for children with chronic kidney disease. This can mean lengthy periods away from home for the child and their parent/caregiver. During this time away, Kidney Kids aims to help alleviate the stress by offering emotional and practical support to families while their child receives specialised medical treatment.
Once referred, Kidney Kids provide continued support to the whānau, with advocacy and hospital or home visits. Kidney Kids also provide educational support for children who fall behind at school as a result of having kidney disease. We offer the opportunity to apply for personal development grants through the John Velvin Trust. These grants help our kids to reach their full potential, which can be used towards their educational or personal developmental goals. The John Velvin Trust assesses each application against their criteria.
We also organise special events each year, the highlight on our calendar being our camps. We hold two camps each year for our Kidney Kids who are at, or near, end stage renal failure and kidney kids who are experiencing social distress. Additional to this, we hold several regional Christmas parties.