Since 2019, Buddle Findlay has welcomed students from the Halberg Youth Council for work experience via the Buddle Findlay & Halberg Career Experience programme. This is a programme we co-developed with the Halberg Foundation to give members of the Council, all young leaders with physical disabilities, the opportunity to build practical skills and confidence in a professional setting.
Toby Ireland, a Year 13 student balancing schoolwork with a serious commitment to rowing and running, joined our Wellington team for his placement in September. We asked him about his studies, his advocacy work, and what surprised him most during his time with us.
Q: Could you start by telling us a bit about yourself what you’re studying and what interests you most at the moment?
Tēnā koutou katoa. Ko Toby Ireland tōku ingoa. First, a massive thank you to the Buddle Findlay team for this opportunity – I really appreciate it. I’m in Year 13 at Hutt Valley High School, and I’m studying maths (statistics), Education for Sustainability, PE & Health, and accounting. I was born in Taranaki, moved to Cambridge when I was two, and later to Wellington, where I’ve lived since.
Q: Looking ahead, what are your long-term career goals or areas you’d like to explore?
I’d like to become a professional athlete. I’m also definitely planning to go to university at some point. I’m considering environmental studies, accounting and finance, or space-related studies.
Q: Outside of study or work, what do you enjoy doing? What helps keep you balanced?
Outside school I like to run and row. I’m in the rowing season at the moment. Rowing is about 70 per cent legs, so running helps - they go well together.
When I’m not busy with schoolwork and sport., I play piano and I’m re-reading the Harry Potter series.
Q: Are there particular skills you’d like to develop further, or areas where you’d welcome more experience (e.g. teamwork, communication, leadership)?
Life skills, I feel a bit behind there. Next year, without the pressure of schoolwork, I want to focus on building those and practising them consistently.
Q: What drew you to the Halberg Youth Council, and why is being part of it important to you?
At the end of last year, my whānau and I met with Emma Phelps, Halberg’s regional advisor, and she offered me the chance to join the Youth Council. I’m really grateful. The Council is a safe space to advocate for inclusion and to make sport and recreation inclusive and accessible for rangatahi across the motu. You need people with lived experience to do that effectively, and the Council brings those voices together.
Q: What do you hope to contribute through your role on the Council?
In the near term, I want to raise awareness of the medical vs social models of disability. The medical model treats the person as the problem to be “fixed”, whereas the social model treats the barriers as the problem and focuses on removing them so people can participate equally. We should move towards the social model.
Q: Do you have a highlight from your time with Buddle Findlay?
I had a really great time and learnt a lot. I particularly enjoyed spending time with the finance team and working on spreadsheets. Everyone was really helpful, accessible and fun to hang out with.
Q: What surprised you about “law”?
That law firms don’t just practise criminal law – it‘s not just catching the bad guys. Law has many aspects and fields within it. I learnt that Buddle Findlay is into corporate law, which is interesting.