Rotorua Community Youth Centre receives funding for youth employment programme

Rotorua Youth Centre Trust chief executive Jen Murray. Photo / Andrew Warner

Funding of more than $1.5 million is expected to help make a real difference to the lives of young Rotorua people struggling to find work, education, training, or even themselves.

In Rotorua on Thursday, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and announced the Rotorua Community Youth Centre was one of 10 recipients to receive money through the Ministry of Social Development's He Poutama Rangatahi fund.

The centre will receive $1.564m for its Youth Employment Plus Rotorua programme which provides support for young people who are not in education, training or employment.

Rotorua Youth Centre chief executive Jen Murray was rapt.

Murray said the centre's vision was for all Rotorua young people to reach their full potential.

The programme helps young people to identify career choices and works with businesses to help create job opportunities. When a young person is successful, the programme ensures someone continues to work with them for six months afterwards.

"It's that complete wraparound service," Murray said.

The money would fund the staff to continue this work.

"It means we know we are going to be there to follow through. It makes all the difference."

Murray said young people were too often let down in their lives and this funding would help to ensure the delivery of the employment programme for the next two years, offering assurance and security to those it's designed to help.

For some youth, that consistency in their lives was huge, Murray said.

Minister for Social Development and Employment Carmel Sepuloni, with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern in background. Photo / NZME

"We work to identify their aspirations with them and what support they need to reach those aspirations, then work alongside them through goal setting and identifying what they want, and who they are. Sometimes people don't know who they are themselves.

"The thing is, if services continue to do the same ol', same ol', you get the same result," Murray said.

The centre's employment programme started two years ago and was already achieving success. Five young people who went through it met the Prime Minister on Thursday to tell her of their experience.

In a press release, Minister of Social Development and Employment Carmel Sepuloni said such programmes have already proven successful and the funding would help get more people into work.

"A basic principle of He Poutama Rangatahi was that local communities were best placed to understand barriers rangatahi faced to employment, and the latest funding would support providers in Auckland, Wellington, the Bay of Plenty, Tairawhiti, Te Tai Tokerau and Hawke's Bay," Sepuloni said.

"We know that Māori rangatahi are a focus of the programme because many are at risk of long-term unemployment due to barriers they face accessing, and succeeding, in education and training.

"He Poutama Rangatahi continues to provide participants with life skills, work readiness training, and ongoing, intensive, individualised pastoral care. We know it's a programme that works because it's helped 3133 rangatahi who had engaged with the programme since 2018 move into employment, education or training.

"He Poutama Rangatahi, along with our Government's suite of employment programmes, remain a key part of our plan to manage labour market impacts on young people, and as we build back better from Covid-19," Sepuloni said.

The Bay of Plenty Youth Development Trust, based in Tauranga, received $2.472m from the same Government funding.