Kāpiti, 10 November 2020 - The Remedy has won the People’s Choice Award for Kāpiti’s Best Youth Employer, for the second year, at the Work Ready Kāpiti Annual Awards (WRK).

Work Ready Kāpiti (WRK), established in 2018, focuses on ensuring youth are ‘work ready’ and able to transition successfully into the workforce. The Annual Awards 2020, held 5 November at Southwards Car Museum and attended by 150 people, recognise excellence in young job seekers that have completed WRK programmes, colleges who offer the Work Ready Passport as an elected subject, and local employers who provide work experience and employment opportunities.

The People's Choice Award - Best Youth Employer Award, a text to vote category open to the public from the 12th to 26th of October, celebrates one local employer who has gone above and beyond to provide local youth opportunities.

Emma Faith, owner of The Remedy, who are passionate baristas, says they are humbled to have won the People’s Choice Award as they didn’t know they were in the running this year.

“This is exciting as it means we are on track with our business philosophy to look after our people well. We have a young team and train from scratch. Taylor Finderup, our Manager who accepted the award, started with us when she was 14, making coffee in the mornings before school. She went on to get her degree and then came back to us. We are lucky with the amazing team we have, and this award is a great end to a tough year,” says Emma Faith.

Rudy van Vlerken, of Pzazz Building, who won the Most Committed Work Ready Kāpiti Employer of Youth, has given work experience to six youth this year and taken on one apprentice. Rudy says employer participation in the Program is crucial to its success.

“I’m also a Trustee of Work Ready Kāpiti and there is nothing more rewarding outside of family, than helping youth to develop and grow. Giving youth a pathway to the future is where I get my buzz from. Young people can achieve a lot in life if we help prepare them for work and this benefits potential employers,” says Rudy van Vlerken.

Monique Leith, Trustee of Work Ready Kāpiti, says they are excited about the number of students coming through their programmes.

“We’ve had 52 students across the five Colleges sitting their Passport interviews this year, doubling last year’s numbers. It has been a great year across all Work Ready Kāpiti programmes with an increase in employer engagement also. Being meaningfully employed is so important for our youth and having an increasing range of businesses providing work experience and employment opportunities is fantastic. In the wake of COVID-19, we have all talked about the importance of supporting local; this is a wonderful example of the value local businesses bring to our community,” says Monique Leith.

The Award Winners are:

• Paraparaumu College, Best College Participation - Sponsored by Placemakers Kāpiti
• Bens Buns, Best Employer Participation - Sponsored by Web Genius
• Pzazz Building, Most Committed Work Ready Kāpiti Employer of Youth - Sponsored by Bryan Gundersen
• Damien Doyle, Best Kāpiti Work Ready Passport - Sponsored by Kiwibank
• Nick Fleming / Jack Jorden, Most Innovative Kāpiti Youth Job Seeker - Sponsored by Pzazz Builders
• The Remedy, People’s Choice - Kāpiti’s Best Youth Employer - Sponsored by Leith Consulting
• Jack Williams, Most Committed WEX Youth Placement- Sponsored by Bens Buns

Find out more about Work Ready Kapiti Programmes here.

About Work Ready Kāpiti

Kāpiti Youth Employment Foundation, commonly known as Work Ready Kāpiti (WRK) is an employer-driven charitable trust incorporated in 2018. We encourage Kāpiti youth aged 15 to 24 years old to acquire and present evidence of both skills and experience to show that they are work ready and we encourage local employers to be ready to employ youth.

WRK previously operated as an informal group known as the Kāpiti Youth Employment Strategy Group, was established as a joint initiative of the Kāpiti Chamber of Commerce and the Kāpiti Coast District Council.

WRK consists of three key programmes: The Work Experience Programme - WEX, Kāpiti Work Ready Passport and Events - #EmployerMeets and the Annual Awards Event.

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