Aoraki Polytechnic welcomes Youth Alley

Aoraki Polytechnic welcomes Youth Alley

Youth Alley has a new home, thanks to a positive new community partnership between YMCA South and Mid Canterbury and Aoraki Polytechnic.

Youth Workers, Kirsty Henderson and Cath Slee will be taking up residence as of Monday 15th July at their new base in Block E of the Aoraki Polytechnic campus, with their primary vision remaining “to be a point of contact for young people and to assist them to achieve their goals and reach their full potential”. 

A Mihi was held by Aoraki Polytechnic to officially welcome the Youth Alley staff to the campus on Monday 15 July.

The new location creates a wonderful opportunity to create a youth friendly environment and is the culmination of 6 months hard work towards having a full staffing complement working out of an exciting new community based venue. There now exists a real opportunity to truly collaborate with Aoraki Polytechnic to meet a very important community need for all young people within the district, says YMCA Community Relationships Manager, Christina Cullimore.

Furthermore both Keith Shaw, General Manager, YMCA and Alex Cabrera, Acting Chief Executive Aoraki Polytechnic have no doubt that the opportunity for greater collaboration between the two organisations will only further benefit young people living within the region.  They both go to say that both organisations are fully committed to strengthening opportunities for young people and are looking forward to this new era for Youth Alley in ensuring our young people are supported and nurtured to be positive, contributing members of our community. 
“Aoraki Polytechnic looks forward to welcoming the Youth Alley team on campus, working alongside them to support young people living within the Timaru District. We see this as a positive move for both our students and for the betterment of our community”, said Acting Chief Executive Alex Cabrera.

For the last six months, Youth Alley has been based at the YMCA until a more suitable venue could be secured. The move to these new premises in the heart of the Polytechnic campus also coincides with the appointment of the second Youth Alley youth worker, Cath Slee, who starts work at Youth Alley on Monday.

So other than location, its business as usual for youth accessing the services of Youth Alley.  Both Kirsty and Cath are encouraging both current and future clients and/or community network contacts to call in and check out their new home!

ENDS

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