On behalf of our Zeal team, we thank you for helping us make 2022 an epic year! We’ve had huge success this year and we thank you for being a part of it. Whether you helped to fund our programmes, attended Zeal yourself or supported as a parent, teacher or friend, we thank you for making 2022 one to remember.
Check out our highlights
Your impact
- Youth Week in May this year was a huge success across all our centres where we delivered high-standard events and programmes for young people. It was our biggest Youth Week yet with 1,600 attendees to Zeal events and 3,454 viewing our Instagram lives sessions.
- Through our Zeal West Tech project, 88 rangatahi have completed our computer refurbishing programme and received laptops for themelves and their families to use at home. We’re proud that 90% of participants say they’re more skilled and confident in tech as a result of this programme.
- This year we’ve run 192 creative, wellness and employment pathway programmes across the regions. Over an average of 10 sessions, 1,797 young people have thrived through gaining new skills and realising their potential. We're pumped that 97% rated their programme positively in our post-programme survey.
- We surveyed 221 young people to share their experience of Zeal, and the results were astonishing. 92% of young people feel supported and cared for at Zeal, 91% of young people say Zeal has had a positive impact on them and 74% said Zeal helped them to find or connect with other places of support or good advice.
- We expanded our Ākonga Youth Development and Employment mahi to all five regions, resulting in 380 rangatahi learning essential skills to gain further employment. Rangatahi have grown their confidence and gained a strong sense of belonging at Zeal and some have moved into employment or connected to further education pathways.
- 10 students from our Taranaki Alternative Education school have exceeded the previous regional average for year 11s. One of our students, Kayne has passed NCEA level 1 and is the first to reach this milestone in Taranaki for his age. We could not be more proud of these absolute legends, especially considering the HUGE barriers they face just to get to course each day.
A story of inspiration
Jeremy came to Zeal as a young man (10 years old) who wasn’t in school and had just moved into a dangerous living situation. Jeremy started showing up to Zeal during lockdown and would flaunt gears and tech equipment he had pinched from the mall. Over a few months of connecting with the team, Jeremy found a space of belonging and support at Zeal. That meant we were able to work alongside a local school to get him enrolled. He is now a regular fixture at Zeal, not only as a participant but as someone who helps set up our programmes and grow the culture of our Afternoon Hangs space. We continue to navigate the tough stuff with Jeremy but we’re overall proud of his growth in such a short time and we’re extremely excited to see what the future holds.
Want to learn more about the impact you've made?
The Zeal 2022 Survey
Learn more about what rangatahi are saying about Zeal in our annual survey.