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Our intended outcome should always be to improve the standards that our young people are forced to live in daily.

Isaac Gunson’s thoughts on the Te Puke Youth Hub

Core values:

  •         Honest – in all of our affairs, we must be honest, and seek no agenda other than assisting the Youth of Te Puke
  •         Open-minded – we must remain open-minded to the ideas being presented by both one another and youth alike
  •         Passionate – without a genuine passion and heart for the youth, we would be the wrong people to pursue the best interests of Te Puke’s Youth.
  •         Enhancing – everything we do must be in the name of enhancing the quality of Youth lives across Te Puke

What is the objective of the Youth trust?

The objective of this Youth trust should, in my opinion, be to fill the void that previous failed or discontinued initiatives have left. These include the Active Youth Centre, Youth Hub and many more.

As a trust, we should operate with one belief; that nothing is more important to the future than a well-informed and well-nourished youth. We should seek to create a location where the Youth of Te Puke feel equal and create a sense of belonging. We should be able to set up initiatives that directly tie our Youth into the community, and help them understand the part they can play in the wider world.

Our intended outcome should always be to improve the standards that our young people are forced to live in daily. For some youth, they have a privileged background, while others are less fortunate. Our help should not be able to distinguish between the two; we should be able to help youth from all socio-economic backgrounds.

What would those objectives look like, and how would we achieve them?

First, I believe it is important to set up a location that the trust can operate out of that can also double as a Youth Hub, a hybrid area that can do some or all of the following:

  •         Act as a hangout, created by Youth, for Youth
  •         Host events
  •         Provide pastoral care
  •         Workshops (life skills, CV creation, tax paying, seasonal etc)
  •         Information for follow up for poly tech or courses
  •         Study room

A council property on Stock Road (which backs onto Jubilee Park) would fit these criteria. It’s interior has a large, almost open-plan style to it. As an attraction to Youth, it needs to be able to host free WiFi access. As much as one might not want it to be a ‘hangout’ area, sometimes that is what youth need. If a reasonable profile were developed, the troubled and criminally inclined youth may very well find themselves harmlessly hanging out at this Youth Hub, and under those circumstances, we stand a better chance of helping them than if we go out on the streets searching for them.

 

 

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Vision: A community where diversity is celebrated, and every person feels included. Mission: To create opportunities for healthy connections and self-expression. To support people who work with young people, and thereby enhance youth engagement and development and creatives so that young people thrive.