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Celebrating achievements and highlights as we recap term one

We’re taking a moment to celebrate the end of a successful term at Zeal. We feel proud of our impact in the community and the hard work of our staff across Wellington, Kāpiti, Taranaki, Hamilton and West Auckland, in providing programmes and support that cater to the needs and interests of youth.

We’re excited to share more about the wins and highlights over the term.

Zeal Hamilton

Mentoring young people

Thanks to funding from the Ministry of Youth Development Youth Worker Pilot programme, we are pumped to announce that youth worker Kathy has taken on a new full-time mentoring role. This enables her to establish deeper levels of support and one-on-one connections with young people, resulting in positive outcomes and a new dimension to Zeal Hamilton’s work.

Programmes

We received positive feedback from young people following an excellent term of programmes at Zeal Hamilton, with 90% expressing an increase in confidence and skill improvement and 100% recommending the programme to a friend. We are also super proud to have supported one of our rangatahi into the Hip Hop dance tutor role and provided her with guidance on future employment opportunities. Overall it’s been a great term of programmes.

What's next

We’re excited to continue building on our successes and creating even more opportunities for our community to come together through upcoming programmes and events such as Siva Samoa, a new cultural dance programme led by our two new Zeal youth workers.

Zeal Wellington

Supporting rainbow young people at Out in the City event

We hosted a hangout space at Out in the City event where youth could relax. A huge highlight for us was connecting with new young people and parents of rainbow youth to share what Zeal is about. We couldn’t have done this without the support of InsideOUT  and we’re proud of the deep connection we have made with them.

Barista programme 

This term we’ve seen 10 young people successfully complete our barista programme. A huge highlight is always seeing young people grow in confidence. This term was no different as we celebrated their end-of-term graduation with families and external supporters who were so proud to celebrate their young people. 

What's next

This year we’ve teamed up with two/fifty-seven, an organisation that has offered their space for Zeal’s barista trainees to take their expertise to another level.   

Zeal Kāpiti

Afternoon hangs

There has been a noticeable increase in the number of young people attending our afternoon hangs space with an average of 40 young people per day. The rise in attendance can be attributed to the youth workers efforts to create a safe and supportive environment that caters to a broader range of interests and needs of rangatahi. 

Youth events in Kāpiti

Our team have executed a massive term of community events. This included the Pickle Pot Be-in Festival, Ōtaki Kite Festival, Waikanae Movies in the Park and smashing out two Musicians’ Lounge events held in our centre. These events have given us an awesome opportunity to connect with young people who have not been to Zeal before. 

What's next

We’re happy to announce the 20 week Akonga course, aimed at equipping 20 young people with barista skills and work experience, has been extended into 2023 thanks to the Ministry of Youth Development.

Zeal Taranaki

Alternative Education student passing Level 1

This term we’re celebrating four incredible students, Haelym, Caesar, Te Reigna and Kanye. They worked incredibly hard to improve their literacy and numeracy skills and collectively gained 220 NCEA credits. Kanye gained a whopping 82 credits, making him the first student in North Taranaki Alternative Education to achieve NCEA Level 1!

Summer events

We ran various events such as skate comps, colour runs, gigs and a paint party, reaching many young people across the region. On average 200 people attended each event, with the paint party attracting a massive 500! For many attendees this was their first Zeal event, and we’re proud of our team and Zeal youth who helped run them.

What's next

Due to high demand and success, we are now running two Empowering Young Leaders’ Day events. Here young people from New Plymouth gather for a day of inspiration, fun, and connection.

Zeal West Auckland

140  young people had their say on the Auckland budget 

We organized a successful event with The Western Initiative, Ranui 135, and E Tipu E Rea to encourage our community to speak out against the Auckland Council’s impending budget cuts, resulting in 140 young people submitting their opinions, which are now under review.

Cyclone Gabriel  

Our term began with the floods and Cyclone Gabriel wreaking havoc on our neighbourhood. We were able to engage with other community youth organisations and our friends at Foundation North to get over $25,000 worth of resources out to the families who were hit the hardest.

What's next

We are seeing new schools sign up to our programmes which will extend our reach. We have new events to run and a new intake of mentees and youth leaders to induct. In short, this coming term is set to be BIG.  

A massive thank you

To all our funders, supporters and especially young people for making term one epic!