Papatoetoe fire station to continue saving lives

Media Release
2 March 2009

Papatoetoe fire station to continue saving lives with Youthline and Vodafone

The old Papatoetoe Fire Station will receive a new lease on life as a hub for youth services in the region following a grant from the Vodafone New Zealand Foundation.

Youthline has been awarded $200,000 to redevelop the Station into a regional centre and CEO Stephen Bell says that will help Youthline create a ‘hub’ bringing together community agencies and creating a ‘village’ of support for young people and their families.

“The Vodafone New Zealand Foundation has seen the potential of this project and its involvement will allow Youthline to work from within the local community, creating a space that the local community can be proud of and something that will serve the community for generations ahead.

“We will be able to double the number of contact hours we can provide and increase our local volunteer base by more than 30%,” he says.

The grant will be used for the first phase of the Fire Station redevelopment, including creating a “Jamie Oliver Ministry of Food” setting and establishing the infrastructure for our call centre and space for our youth leadership programmes.

Vodafone NZ Foundation Chairman, Michael Stanley, is excited about the prospect of the partnership with Youthline.

“This project’s mission - to develop a state-of-the art community centre for Manukau youth - is directly in step with the Vodafone NZ Foundation’s aim of promoting healthy outcomes for young New Zealanders. We’re delighted to be able to make a contribution towards Youthline’s work,” says Stanley.

The first milestone in the work will be completing the design phase, erecting a temporary centre to house our services whilst the main centre is being developed, this will follow with the development of the “Ministry of Food”setting for local community involvement.

ENDS

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