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Friends, Imogen Holmstead-Scott and Emerald Wafer, received a $5000 scholarship from Sovereign for their ‘The Good Friends Project’.
Their project aims to provide support and help on Facebook and Tumblr to people who want to support friends in the recovery stages of eating disorders.
“There’s plenty of information on how to identify an eating disorder, but there is very little about what to do to support someone once they get a diagnosis,” Imogen says.
Sovereign’s ‘Be the Difference’ challenge offered young people the chance to submit ideas that would help New Zealanders with their health and wellbeing.
Imogen (21) and Emerald (22) won one of five prestigious scholarships.
Emerald and Imogen want to say a big thank you to Sovereign for helping them bring their idea to life. Without Sovereign’s help, it would have just been an idea
on paper.
ASB Auckland Marathon: by joining the Youthline team, we will support you with expert training, nutrition and fundraising advice. Plus, there will be a Q&A website, help from a local sports clinic, team runs and get-togethers.
On the day you will run in a Youthline t-shirt, have support from Youthline’s cheer and drum beat team, and have an after race function at Victoria Park with food and massages.
Most importantly - we’ll have heaps of fun! If you want to join, register and set up a fundraising page or email events@youthline.co.nz, today!
Cantabrian volunteers are expanding their skills
Youthline Christchurch volunteers headed to Auckland on July 3 for the Youthline National Conference. The conference will focus on topics that matter to young people: social issues, personal development and health.
National Volunteer Week is in full swing, and Youthline is very grateful to its volunteers who play an essential role in ensuring Youthline can support the thousands of young people who reach out each year.
Youthline provides all volunteers with ongoing training, so that they are equipped to support the community – on the Helpline, through projects, and in their own families.
The Youthline National Youth Collective (NYC) has planned and organised the conference for their fellow volunteers. NYC is a group of young leaders from across Aotearoa who provide input to and lead projects, services or initiatives involving young people.
Youthline National Spokesperson Stephen Bell says youth participation is vital if Youthline is to stay relevant with young people.
“Youth Advisory groups are youth development in action and we are passionate about ensuring young people have a voice and feel heard when it comes to decision making within their own communities.”
One of the NYC members is 22 year old student Alana Mulvena from Christchurch. Youthline caught up with Alana about her experience as a volunteer:
What do you like about volunteering?
I am passionate about helping young people to reach their potential, which is something that I have always been interested in. I also study social work and psychology so it’s great experience and relevant to what I study!
What do you like about Youthline?
I like what Youthline stands for: youth development and ensuring everyone has a voice and is heard.
I enjoyed being involved with organising the Youthline National Conference. We decided on the topics and themes. The topics need to be relevant so I thought about what people at uni are talking about, and stuff that I have experienced myself.
What else do you get involved with in the community?
Not at the moment as my study and work takes up all of my time!
Youthline wouldn’t be able to reach as many youth without the ongoing support of GlaxoSmithKline. For over 20 years, GSK has facilitated the delivery of our National Helpline Service and inter-regional connection.
Bi-culturalism and Diversity celebrated
Youthline prides itself as an organisation that celebrates bi-culturalism and diversity and follows through on this with an annual visit as an entire organisation to Princess Te Puea Marae.
This year we marked the 20th Anniversary of our Youthline whanau visiting the Te Puea Marae in Mangere.
Te Puea Marae is a special place for us and is the memorial Marae for Princess Te Puea Herangi, who was a Māori leader who was a renowned supporter of young people.
The activities and discussions during the visit take us back to our roots and remind attendees about the importance of Connection, Community and Diversity to the work we do. It’s a chance for the entire Youthline whanau to come together and build cultural competency through learning, reflection, sharing, kai, waiata and fun.
Connection is about the connections we make with others in our lives, in social situations, and in our work with Youthline.
Community – is about a celebration and strengthening of all the communities we take part in – be they family, work, religious, neighborhood, or the community of Aotearoa.
Diversity – is about the wide range of life experiences, situations and values that make us both different and similar. We will take the opportunity to examine and widen our world-views. This is the third stage of Youthline’s volunteer training to work with young people. Our volunteers are the lifeblood of our organisation and we wouldn’t be able to do the work we do without them.
Our annual visit to Te Puea Marae is our chance as an organisation to ground ourselves in the work we do and reflect on the year that’s been.
For some it may be a space to reflect on where you have come from, your tunpuna (ancestors); the taonga (treasures) they have given you and how you can use these to support taiohi (young people).
We live in a bi-cultural country where many cultures who New Zealand home can be understood as Tangata Whenua (people of the land) and Tauiwi (all other cultures).
Te Ara Taiohi or bi-cultural footsteps explores bi-culturalism through the Marae Wananga or live in weekend at Te Puea Marae in Mangere.
Youthline did us proud for PRIDE!
Youthline joined thousands of revelers to celebrate Pride at the Auckland Pride Parade on February 21st.
Youthline Pride Creative Director, Dayna Cooper, also known as the Youthline Support Centre Team Leader, said Youthline thoroughly enjoyed tackling the Gods and Monsters theme this year.
"We actively support the Rainbow Community in Aotearoa in our work and through partnerships - young people, friends and families. It feels so good to celebrate with the community."
The Pride festival organiser had a space at the Youthline Auckland Central Centre in the lead up to the parade, and the Centre was also home to the 45+ floats which made their way down Ponsonby Road. While everyone was getting ready for the parade to begin we had a sausage sizzle for participants and passers-by.
Youthline received really positive feedback about our participation in the parade, which is awesome. Onlookers enjoyed our cool float, which consisted of angels and devils to represent the way inner demons can create turmoil for the young people that we work alongside. There was heaps of cheering from the crowd on the night, as well as lots of congratulations from supporters following the event.
Youthline is on the hunt for a bunch of awesome volunteers to collect for us during this year’s Annual Street Appeal on the 22nd and 23rd of May. We’re looking for volunteers to collect for us at locations all around Auckland.
If you’d like more information, please email events@youthline.co.nz - thanks!
Youth participation key to good decision making
Youth development organisation Youthline says it is a priority for communities to facilitate meaningful youth participation.
This was one of the driving forces behind a meeting of Youthline’s National Youth Advisory Group, recently renamed the National Youth Collective, (NYC) late last month. A Youth Advisory Group (YAG) is a group of young people who are supported with good training and equipped to provide input and undertake tasks, or who lead projects and campaigns for organisations, services, or initiatives related to youth. It is about giving young people an opportunity to participate meaningfully in things that affect them and helping organisations and services to get it right when working with youth.
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We're Making It More Legit - Join the Core Team!
Become a HappyNZ Samurai!
With a team we believe we can grow this campaign and movement to a whole new level - creating/hosting events, spreading and reminding people to smile with the hashtag #HappyNZ!
We'll meet once every 2 weeks (online/offline) - where we can talk about your ideas and put them to action! Come onboard and volunteer with us!
Community Development Conference
The Community Development Conference is coming up on 18 - 20 February. This conference is bringing together practitioners, academics and students to share their knowledge, research and stories about community development. Volunteering is a key component of community development and we hope to see developments in this discussed at the conference. We are very excited to be working alongside Unitec Department of Social Practice to offer this opportunity!
Gods and Monsters Pride Parade 2015
Youthline is taking to the streets on Feb 21 to celebrate the Pride Parade.
If you're interested in volunteering with us on the day please get in touch at donate@youthline.co.nz
Sovereign Christmas Appeal helps homeless youth
Youthline was overwhelmed to be the recipient organisation of Sovereign's staff Christmas Appeal. We received hundreds of generously donated personal care items to support the many homeless young people that come into our Auckland Centres every week.
Youthline Auckland Volunteer Of The Year : Julie
We caught up with Julie Spray to have a chat about being named Volunteer of the Year. In short she says the work at Youthline is really rewarding.
"It's lovely. I always feel like for everything I put in, I get even more out, whether it's personally, professionally or socially.
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