Flaxmere young people funded for leadership programme

Youth Affairs Minister Nikki Kaye has today announced one-off funding of $20,000 for 30 Flaxmere College students to take part in the Duke of Edinburgh Hillary Award programme.

“There have been difficulties for young people in Flaxmere and I want to ensure that more young people have opportunities to develop their leadership abilities and contribute to their community,” Ms Kaye says.

“In February, I met with leaders in the Hastings community of Flaxmere, as well as a number of young people, to discuss the positive activities they run to support Flaxmere youth. We also talked about what type of additional support they need to tackle some of the challenges young people there face like poverty, youth suicide and gangs.”

The Duke of Edinburgh Hillary Award is an iconic programme that engages thousands of young people each year in service, skills, physical recreation and expedition activities. It is delivered in more than 130 countries and has been running in New Zealand for 50 years. In that time more than 200,000 young people have registered with the programme.

“The aim of getting Flaxmere young people involved in an internationally recognised programme like The Duke of Edinburgh Hillary Award is to give opportunities for more young people to volunteer in their community. With that, they grow in confidence and motivation and develop leadership skills,” Ms Kaye says.

“The Ministry of Youth Development will work with Flaxmere College and The Duke of Edinburgh’s Hillary Award to support 30 young people to achieve the Bronze Award.

“This is one-off funding specifically targeted towards young people identified by their school as needing the kind of positive and developmental opportunities offered by the programme.”

The Ministry of Youth Development has a three-year High Trust Contract with the Duke of Edinburgh’s Hillary Awards of $252,291 per year, which contributes to the enrolment of 250 young people from decile 1 to 5 schools. The one-off funding announced today is additional to that and is from MYD’s Services for Young People Fund.

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