Northern Advocate
  • Northern Advocate home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Sport
  • Property
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings

Locations

  • Far North
  • Kaitaia
  • Kaikohe
  • Bay of Islands
  • Whangārei
  • Kaipara
  • Mangawhai
  • Dargaville

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Kaitaia
  • Whangārei
  • Dargaville

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Northern Advocate

Kaitaia teenager uses scholarship to bring Far North rangatahi to youth suicide prevention forum in Wellington

By Mikaela Collins
Northern Advocate·
24 May, 2017 07:19 PM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Nina Griffiths is attending a youth suicide prevention forum in Wellington and will be bringing five other youth with her.

Nina Griffiths is attending a youth suicide prevention forum in Wellington and will be bringing five other youth with her.

Nina Griffiths says it is important the opinions of young people be heard when it comes to suicide prevention plans.

So when the Kaitaia teenager was asked to attend a youth conference on suicide prevention in Wellington she also used a scholarship to take Far North youth - Quintin Moeke, Tangaroa Kapa, Billy Rutherford, Sammy Hokianga and Joe Wells - with her.

"These are opportunities that don't get awarded often.

"These boys are leaders in their kapa haka groups, in their families, in dance and art and drama. They're amazing guys and they represent what it is to be from Northland. It's a chance for them to network," she said.

The 18-year-old has been a strong campaigner for youth suicide prevention in the Far North since losing friends to suicide.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

She will be gathering the opinions of young people attending the four-day UnSpoken Word Forum with InOvation Trust to submit to the Ministry of Health as part of feedback to its draft suicide prevention strategy.

"The young people coming from this conference are from all over New Zealand. So I'll submit this and say this is what 120 young people from around New Zealand, who are involved in this space, think we need to do."

A public meeting is being held at the Kerikeri RSA today to give people the chance to consult on the strategy.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

A Ministry of Health spokeswoman said the location was chosen because it was central, and workshops to inform the strategy were held in Kaitaia and Whangarei early last year.

Ms Griffiths, 18, did not attend the first workshop in Kaitaia as she was not aware of it and was hoping to attending today's hui in Kerikeri.

She said however, some young people were not comfortable in those environments which is why she decided to use her AMP scholarship, which she was awarded for her suicide prevention work, to bring youth from Kaitaia, Te Kao and other rural areas with her.

Ms Griffiths said the youth perspective on suicide prevention was vital.

"Considering the proportion of young people who do take there own lives I think it is very important."

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Northern Advocate

Northern Advocate

Far North homes without power after severe gales

Northern Advocate

'Economic growth is key': Luxon discusses Northland's potential with iwi

Northern Advocate

Northland businesses unite for CCTV initiative to combat crime


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Northern Advocate

Far North homes without power after severe gales
Northern Advocate

Far North homes without power after severe gales

More than 170 customers south of Cape Rēinga are still without power.

17 Jul 08:26 AM
'Economic growth is key': Luxon discusses Northland's potential with iwi
Northern Advocate

'Economic growth is key': Luxon discusses Northland's potential with iwi

17 Jul 06:02 AM
Northland businesses unite for CCTV initiative to combat crime
Northern Advocate

Northland businesses unite for CCTV initiative to combat crime

17 Jul 04:00 AM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • The Northern Advocate e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Northern Advocate
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The Northern Advocate
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP