Great start to 2026

It may seem like we have been a bit quiet so far this year but there has been plenty going on behind the scenes.

We have been busy looking for new volunteers to support all areas of our work. After putting an advert out we were so surprised by how many wonderful people are out there wanting to get involved. We have really enjoyed meeting some truly lovely people and have found two fantastic new volunteers to join our team. We look forward to introducing them to you soon.

Networking- the Citizens Advice Bureau Pakuranga organised a morning for local not for profit community groups to meet and share how they help the community, this was also open to the public.

We had lots of fun chatting to some awesome community groups and members of the public.

This event was supported by Howick Local Board, it was great to catch up with Kai Zeng Deputy Chair of Howick Local Board

Youth Board- we had our first Youth Board meeting for the year at the beginning of February. It was the first meeting for our new executive committee and they did an outstanding job, running the meeting completely by themselves- Ann and I enjoyed sitting back and watching them do a great job.

This year we have nearly 40 students on our Youth Board from 8 different local colleges. The executive team also attend our Board of Trustee meetings to learn more about what we do and how Youth Project NZ is run.

The Youth Board have some exciting events planned for the year, starting with Together in the Park 11th April- a free fun afternoon in the park for families.

They are also planning a Youth Volunteering Awards Night- to recognise all the good that young people are doing in our community. We are currently looking for sponsors for various awards so please get in touch if you are interested.

Visit to Bruce McLaren Retirement Village. Every two months 4 members of our Youth Board visit the retirement village to offer the residents support with anything tech related. Yesterday was our first visit of the year, we had lots of residents join us to ask for assistance and the rangatahi were so helpful. It is always lovely to see different generations together enjoying each others company.

This is a very popular activity with our Youth Board members with plenty of willing volunteers.

In between all this we have been busy getting ready to start working in local Primary Schools with our Kindness in the Community Activities. This year we have three new activities to offer and is still completely free of charge to schools.

We are looking forward to starting at the beginning of March in Sunnyhills Primary School.

We think 2026 is going to be a fantastic year and are looking forward to building on existing connections we have made and making new ones as well.