Introducing the one and only Rayner Swartz. ‘The Rain Man’ goes by many titles - titles born from the admiration our attending Youth have for him and the respect he garners from his colleagues. It’s not often you find someone with more than one nickname, but then again Rayner is no ordinary man (as the photograph below may suggest). Some common salutatory exclamations that often reverberate within the walls of The Crib (and some of my personal favourites) are: the cool-kid of Kahu; the shoeless strummer and of course, the fire-throwing maestro. 

Rayner was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa and was raised there for his first 5 years before he made the move to New Zealand; a place he now calls home.

Rayner’s strong passion for the outdoors and a penchant for rock climbing has allowed him to settle in Wanaka and he hasn’t thought about leaving since arriving here in 2016.

Rayner Swartz, Youth Worker Extraordinaire

At The Crib, Rayner’s infallible modus operandi when engaging with Youth is beyond reproach. A kind-hearted, warm and genuine soul, Rayner has the ability to produce life-affirming moments regularly and quite possibly, a life-long change for some. Rayner’s project of the moment is a drawing club he runs at MAC during lunchtimes, every week on a Tuesday afternoon. Some of our regulars at The Crib are avid attendees of these sessions but their interest doesn’t stop at the school gates. You can normally find a group of highly focussed Youths huddled around Rayner in the kitchen, each producing artistic marvels of Salvador Dali-esque drawings.

We are truly blessed to have Rayner, and we are sure the community feels the same. If you need to contact Rayner regarding his projects or future plans, you can contact him via email at [email protected]. 

A HUGE THANK YOU to the following funders for their recent generosity:

• Sargood Bequest and Scotlands Te Kiteroa Trust for supporting the delivery of youth programmes, activities and events in the Upper Clutha
• MSD community capability and resilience fund and Alexander McMillan Trust for the purchase of new items for The Crib
• Creative Communities Scheme for delivery of Matariki creative workshops and a Radio Skills programme for young people
• Youth Worker Training Scheme for the training of our fantastic Youth Worker Team