A growing population and the impact of Covid-19 have led to an increase in demand for services provided by local youth organisation Kahu Youth.

Operations manager Anna Sutherland says disrupted schooling and lockdowns have made things harder for many young people locally.

“Covid has upped the ante and compounded those challenges,” she said. “Especially as it has hit many of them in that transition period between school and work or school and uni.”

“We are finding generally that youth are struggling, not all youth, but some have mental health challenges, pressures, as well as [the demands of] engaging in school or training or employment.” 

Kahu Youth operations manager Anna Sutherland PHOTO: Wānaka App

“We will continue to see the effects of Covid on our young people and the ongoing anxiety behind it.”

Kahu Youth has been providing a range of youth services in Wānaka for 15 years and it currently has seven trained youth workers, three of which work full time.

“We provide services under three pillars; direct support through mentoring, after school and group activities, and providing a drop-in centre,” Anna said.

“We provide a safe place for youth to come, and have safe adults that they can trust on hand.”

Anna said although demand has jumped, Kahu Youth staff are motivated by seeing the positive effects of what they do. 

“We see changes every day and sometimes it is the small little wins that we see, like a young person engaging more in school, which has a ripple effect across their lives,” she said. “It helps their friends, their family and their community.”

Having long outgrown its current premises, Kahu Youth is looking forward to becoming one of the anchor tenants in the new sports, youth and community centre in the former Mitre 10 building. Conveniently located a short walk from Mount Aspiring College, Kahu Youth will have 2​​74m2 of dedicated space - plenty of room for the growing organisation.

“It presents an incredible opportunity to really think forward and set ourselves up for the next 10 years,” she said. “We will start a youth consultation process after Matariki to engage with youth - really the youth centre is for them.”

Wānaka’s Matariki celebration, which features entertainment, a hangi, and fireworks on the lakefront have been organised by Kahu Youth for the past 11 years.

“It's important to do this,” Anna said. “It’s been challenging the last few years for our community and there haven't been many events for us to celebrate so this is a really special event.

Programmes coming up at Kahu Youth include their July school holiday programme and a series of weekend workshops focusing on giving young people tools to manage their emotions and mental health.

To find out more about the services offered by Kahu Youth click here.