24-05-2025
Champion year for youth service: report
A view of the Peninsula Bay subdivision looking back towards the Wanaka township. PHOTO: ARCHIVE
Wānaka's top youth service had a great year in 2024, its annual report says.
Kahu Youth's annual meeting was held last week and its annual report showed the organisation had a successful 21st year, bringing together more than 200 young people across a range of programmes.
Operations director Anna Sutherland was happy with the progress made.
Highlights included a new youth space and the Winter Wonderland Ball fundraiser.
The service hosted 13 different youth development programmes, including after-school clubs, transition programmes and school holiday programmes.
The opening of the new youth centre in Paetara Aspiring Central, which was two years in the making, had helped the group elevate its service.
Attendance at the after-school drop-in sessions had soared, more than 30 young people using the centre each day for that programme.
The annual report indicated a growing need in the region for services relating to mental health, counselling and psychology sessions.
Ms Sutherland said Kahu Youth had tried to contribute to meeting this need while remaining under the umbrella of youth work. One-on-one mentoring had been a proven way to help young people overcome challenges — 22 young people had been paired with a youth worker for weekly mentoring.
Feedback had been positive, many saying they had more engagement in education and were building better relationships.
Funding and sponsorships meant the youth service had awarded four Kahu Youth scholarships and one sponsored by the Wānaka Rotary club.
The winner of the Rotary and Kahu Youth scholarship, Oscar Waddington, said the $1500 award had made a significant difference to the cost of his education.
"Receiving the scholarship was a lifesaver," he said. "Not only does it help fund my studies, but it also helps me in securing safe and reliable accommodation while I pursue my BA in Wellington."
Ms Sutherland was also pleased with the outcome of the Winter Wonderland Ball which helped raise more than $60,000 for the fitout of the new youth space.
The event's success was attributed to the hard work of volunteers, the Kahu youth team and the young people involved with the programmes.
She added that community support was vital in allowing the service to complete extra projects as well as their youth work.
