COVID-19 has had a huge impact on all of us. Young people especially are amongst the hardest hit of any demographic. It seems that for many of our most vulnerable communities who already experience significant challenges, that many of these challenges have been amplified.
Throughout lockdown the Future Leaders in Kaikohe, Whangarei, Whakatāne, Ōpōtiki, Kawerau and Greymouth have been busy. Lockdown didn’t stop the Future Leaders from connecting with their community in the most meaningful ways. Read on to see our collection of stories that illustrate the perseverance and leadership of young people across Aotearoa during lockdown!
Marlena Martin (Coach), Courtney Cox and Mereana Waata – Kawerau Future Leaders
Kawerau Future Leaders prepping their Care Hampers to safely deliver these out to whānau in need in their community.
The Future Leaders in Kawerau were incredibly busy during lockdown! They delivered 50 Whanau Care Hampers to eight communities, in and around Kawerau The packs were to support local elderly, and struggling families during lockdown. They received $5,000 from the Ministry of Social Development’s (MSD) “Community Preparedness and Awareness Grant” to support the purchasing of the goods, as well as organising and delivery of these packs. They were supported by Inspiring Stories partner Eastbay REAP, Kawerau Youth Council, Kawerau New World, Tuwharetoa ki Kawerau Hauora, and the Kawerau community.
Youth Week took place from 9 – 17th May this year during lockdown. The theme was “E korero ana mātou. E whakarongo ana koutou? | We’re speaking. Are you listening?” – and the Kawerau Future Leaders definitely got their voices out there. During Youth Week – with support from Ara Taiohi – they delivered wellbeing and mental health packs for 22 young people in Kawerau. They also ran four social media challenges – these challenges were to encourage virtual connectivity and online engagement. Entries were sent from around NZ including: Whangarei, Rotorua, Ōpōtiki.
On top of all of this activity, Kawerau Future Leaders organised 2 Raffles (for Easter and Mother’s Day) and raised over $750. These funds have gone towards their first project, to build their team identity (he waka eke noa) by designing and printing hoodies.
Hayden Cleghorn and Elicia Keating – Greymouth Future Leaders
Greymouth Future Leaders preparing Care Hampers for their community – special thanks to Bidfoods and The Shed.
Greymouth Future Leaders were also busy during lockdown. They also made a successful bid for MSD support and used the $5,000 they received to put together 150 care hampers. They were supported by the New Zealand Red Cross, The Shed Youth Centre, Bidfoods, as well as local friends of the programme and their networks. The care hampers were delivered to 7 nearby communities, including Greymouth.
Greymouth ran a weekly challenges during May to celebrate Youth Week and engage with youth online – this project was funded by Ara Taiohi. The challenges included encouraging reusing recyclables, upcycling old clothes, introducing family pets, and a film making challenge.
Greymouth are currently fundraising through burpee and ice bucket challenges to attend the Future Leaders / Festival for the Future Hui in Whakatāne in July. The hui is being organised by the Whakatāne Future Leaders, and supported by all five other communities. With Festival for the Future 2020 going digital, it has meant an integral part of the programme is looking a little different this year. However, as per usual, the Future Leaders have stepped up and taken on the challenge to organise a rangatahi (youth) led hui in its place. Festival for the Future Digital Summit will be integrated into the three day event as well as a chance to connect with each other and discuss their crew’s projects.
The Whangarei Future Leaders looked at different ways to support their community, and, with help from the Ministry of Social Development, put together kai packages for more vulnerable members in their community. They delivered 11 elderly kai packages and 13 whānau kai packages.
"Me and my family would like to say a big thank you for the food parcels today, there are no words to say how grateful we are. Thank you Future Leaders."
Recipient of one of the Kai Packages put together by Whangarei Future Leaders in May 2020.
They also kicked off the Future Leaders across Aotearoa with daily social media challenges for 3 weeks in April and May – Motivational Monday, Talent Tuesday, Wellness Wednesday, whānau Thursday and Fun Friday. The prizes for these challenges were made possible with support from Ara Taiohi as part of Youth Week NZ. They had some great entries from across Aotearoa – including an exercise video, a caption challenge and sharing the “Bright side of Covid-19” for you.
For Rilee Gillies, Catalyst with the Ōpōtiki Future Leaders, she came to the “Realisation of the importance of human connection.” during Covid-19 Lockdown.
The Whangarei Future Leaders are now fundraising to get down to Whakatāne in July. So far they have completed 575 squats in total as part of an exercise challenge, and a few of the team have got some burpees and skipping coming up.
Ōpōtiki Future Leaders raffled off a Mother’s Day Hamper in May – here is one of the happy mother’s who won Kaysea Cronin and pēpī.
During May Ōpōtiki Future Leaders connected with the Ōpōtiki community through social media to collect ‘lovely words about your mum’ for a mother’s day hamper competition. They delivered 3 hampers out to 3 amazing mothers (you can see one of them pictured above).
The Ōpōtiki Future Leaders will also be putting together Winter Warmth packs for whānau in need – through the $5,000 grant funding they have received from MSD. Rilee GIllies has reached out to loads of New Zealand owned businesses and local Ōpōtiki businesses to support with these packs. They believe that this will be very beneficial as we move into the colder months of the year, and while employment and financial challenges have been heightened during and following the lockdown.
In May, Kaea Williams from the Ōpōtiki Future Leaders completed 345 burpees! Kaea did this to fundraise for project one – he waka eke noa – team hoodies. The Kaea and the rest of the crew are currently devising a plan to raise funds for their trip to Whakatāne for the Festival for the Future hui and get their hoodies printed beforehand.
(Clockwise from Top left) Karen ‘Kaz’ Hepi (Coach), Terrain Palmer, Sy Kaaka, Leanora Palmer, Inverness Cowles, & James Pukeroa – Kaikohe Future Leaders
The image above shows the Future Leaders sharing aroha with the Kaikohe community at the very beginning of lockdown – he waka eke noa / we’re all in this together.
Kaikohe Future Leaders put together 50 Care Hampers for whānau in need to 5 communities around Kaikohe. Karen (Kaz) Hepi, the Kaikohe coach, led the application process for the “Community Preparedness and Awareness Grant” MSD grant in April. From her leadership and initiative in this space, the rest of our five communities followed suit and successfully applied for this funding. Many Future Leaders stepped up to help and/or lead the application process, which was an amazing upskilling opportunity for the youth on the programme.
"Kia ora our Future Leaders! Thank you for the delivery today, our whānau in Tautoro are very grateful. Keep doing what your doing, be strong be safe much luv."
Recipient of Care Hampers, Kaikohe Future Leaders put together in April 2020.
The leaders on the programme also put together 2 amazing mother’s day hampers that went to 2 mums in Kaikohe. They were gifted 100 Easter eggs in April which they delivered to nominated tamariki in their community.
During lockdown Kaikohe Future Leaders also supported other initiatives around Kaikohe – including Sy Kaaka and Terrain Palmer supporting the local iwi with border control. Kaz Hepi and the Future Leaders have also continued to support each other to achieve their goals. Including Moerewa-based Future Leader Inverness Cowles passing her restricted license and Jahnaya Hereora-Ratu pursuing her dreams to become a Police Officer!
Some of the Whakatāne whānau who received the Boredom Buster packs.
Special thanks to Tania Tapsell, Sarah Fanayan, Dee Dayna Riddiford, Leila Rewi, Suveen Walgampola, Rowan McCardle, Mereana Pirihi, Janie Kaafi and Marewa Titoko.
Whakatāne Future Leaders collaborated with Eastbay REAP, Waimana Kaaku, Ministry of Social Development, Ara Taiohi, Countdown Whakatāne, Te Puna Ora o Mataatua, and many local friends and supporters of the programme to put together 250 boredom buster packs! These packs were delivered to 8 surrounding communities in the Whakatāne district.
“Kia ora, I would like to thank Talei Bryant (Whakatāne Coach) and the Future Leaders for blessing us with some supplies for the kids and the rest of my household”
Recipient of Boredom buster pack, Whakatāne Future Leaders put together in April/May 2020.
During Easter, the Future Leaders in Whakatāne also raffled off 3 Easter Egg packs, a mother’s day hamper, and completed a combined 3oo burpees and 600 squats with an exercise challenge to raise funds for their hoody (you can see their hoody design below).
They are all currently organising team events to raise funds for the upcoming Future Leaders / Festival for the Future Digital Hui in Whakatāne. The Whakatāne Future Leaders are leading the coordination of the Future Leader wide Hui from 15 – 18 July. They are incredibly busy looking for venues, team activities and local community support to make it a successful event – Kia kaha Whakatāne!
Above are the hoodies (left to right) that Kaikohe Future Leaders, Whakatāne Future Leaders and Kawerau Future Leaders fundraised, designed and got printed during the months of March, April and May 2020.
Kia kaha Aotearoa!
Now I’ll let the Kawerau Future Leaders Tiktok Tuesday Challenge play you out – kia pai tō rā!