Over the month of March, students from High Schools around Hamilton came to Zeal to participate in our first ever workshops at our new social enterprise, Ward Lane Print Co. (winner of the Social Enterprise Award, 2018 CBD Awards).
Soft launched in late 2018, Ward Lane Print Co. is a screen printing business under the Zeal umbrella that operates out of the Zeal Hamilton building. Thanks to backing from Momentum Waikato and Ministry of Youth Development, our aim is to employ rangatahi, with the proceeds going back to Zeal Education Trust for job creation, educational resources, and Zeal’s youth development facilities across the country.
Over the month of March, we facilitated two workshops for rangatahi – 6 students from St John’s College, and 5 students from various schools around Hamilton. These were one-off events where young people learned the basics of screen printing, went through the process of getting a design ready for print, and printed their own t-shirts to take home.
Following the success of the two workshops, our first 10 week screen printing Programme will kick off at the start of Term 2.
“We know that young people only live out the best story that’s available to them,” says Lehi Duncan, Zeal Hamilton manager. “At Zeal we aim to introduce rangatahi to a new story. Ward Lane Print Co. gives us the ability to take the story further; to give a young person meaningful first-time employment in a space that truly cares about them, and journeys alongside them to aid in the development of work-ready skills, so they can eventually look onto further employment for life.”
If you want to keep in the loop with all things Ward Lane Print Co., you can sign up to our monthly email newsletter here.
