New role: The first full-time fund-raising manager of Karitane in Carramar, Geoff Prenter. Picture: Wesley Lonergan
DRAWING a connection between rugby league and Carramar parenting service Karitane may seem like a long shot.
But it's there through Karitane's new full-time fund-raising manager Geoff Prenter.
The name may ring a bell for some, who'll recognise the former sports journalist, founder of Rugby League Week and later ING cricket sponsorship manager.
Although some may scratch their heads over why Mr Prenter would take on the role, the man himself has welcomed it with open arms.
"I've been a sportswriter all my life, so really it's [Karitane] a different thing altogether from what I've done," he said.
"But when you hear of post-natal depression, you mainly think of women.
"That's not the case. There's a lot of men who suffer from post-natal depression.
"It's also something that I've experienced through a doctor friend of mine who treated post-natal depression, so I knew the enormity of it and how widespread it was."
Mr Prenter, who has a 33-year-old son, knows of the challenges of parenthood.
"My son isn't well, so I just wish I'd known about this place quite a while ago," he said.
"My wife also had a difficult birth. So again a place like this could've helped, and that's the one thing I hope to achieve: recognition of this place and letting parents know that places like Karitane exist."
"I guess there's a growing demand for services like Karitane as such services are limited, and also because of the pressures of modern society," he said of what he'd learned since being appointed in December.
"You see the change from the moment parents come in and then go out our doors. This is what Karitane does and it's just phenomenal."