The Council employs a full time Youth Development Coordinator, whose role is to liaise with the community as well as local and national youth organisations, creating networks, organising projects and events and providing the Council with information on issues concerning children and young people in Kapiti.
The Youth Development Coordinator is responsible for working alongside established and new providers of youth services in the Kapiti District to support youth workers through the provision of advice, information, training and facilitation services, and to ensure that young people receive more focussed and co-ordinated services.
The Kapiti Youth Workers Network meets on a monthly basis at different organisations around the Kapiti Coast and is a great networking forum for workers in the youth sector.
The Network puts out a quarterly newsletter; click here to view the latest edition
(4 pages, 300kb).
The Youth Development Coordinator also has the role of implementing the Council’s Young People's Policy 2003. To view, click here (3 Pages, 24kb).
To read the Implementation Strategy for the Policy, click here (7 pages, 24kb).
Contact Details
The Youth Development Coordinator is happy to answer any questions about youth services or issues in Kapiti.
Phone: (04) 296-4700
Email: Kapiti.Council@kapiticoast.govt.nz
Youth Resources
Youth Services Directory
Comprehensive booklet detailing local youth organisations and the services they offer. The booklet is free for youth workers.
Flickcards
Free fold-up, wallet sized card for young people containing contact details of local and national youth organisations.
Kapiti Safe Party Pack
Free CD holder filled with information about partying safely in Kapiti, looking after mates and getting home safely at the end of the night. A resource produced by local agencies, it comes with a Parent Sheet with tips for parents whose teens hold or go to parties.
For copies of any of these resources, contact the Youth Development Coordinator.
CYK
CYK stands for the Council of Youth in Kapiti. It was set up in 1998 to provide a way for Kapiti Coast’s young people to identify their needs, develop responses to them, and have representation and a legitimate voice in the community. CYK meets at least once a month, and was formally recognised by the Kapiti Coast District Council in May 1999.
Youth Councils like CYK focus on encouraging young people to express their views about a wide range of issues, represent those views to decision-makers and the community, feed back information to young people, and assist in promoting positive responses.
CYK provide the Kapiti Coast District Council with comment on their Annual Plan and make submissions on other relevant documents.
CYK is also involved with national events. Members have attended the first National Youth Forum held in Wellington in 2000, the national Involve 2002 Conference in Wellington, and co-facilitated workshops at the Youth in Local Government Conference Spirit of Youth in Rotorua in 2002.
Last year, six CYK members attended the Youth in Local Government Conference in Dunedin, and presented a 90 minute workshop on Civic Youth and Sustainable Futures. Click here for more information on the Council’s sustainability initiatives.
CYK also raised funds for the completion of the mosaic chair, Te Tuna Ki Paraparumu.
Mosaic art: Te Tuna Ki Paraparumu, located outside the Paraparaumu Library
Scholarships
CYK has established ‘$200ships’ which are scholarships for young people aged between 13 - 25 years living in Kapiti.
$200ships are designed to help young people in Kapiti reach their potential in anything they are involved in.
Some of the dreams that $200ships have supported include:
- "To help me buy the equipment so that I can become one of New Zealand’s best Wood Choppers and represent NZ overseas"
- “To help pay the expenses of attending the NZ Open Winter Swimming Championships in Dunedin and to eventually swim alongside New Zealand's best swimmers”
- “To learn the German language so that I can go to the Jewish Concentration Camps and research my grandparents’ background”
- “To assist with my tuition fees to take advance flute exams so I can achieve my dream of playing with the top orchestra in New Zealand”
- “To help me buy painting equipment so that I can become a successful and well known artist”.
You can apply right now for a $200ship; entries close on the 13th June, 2005.
Click to download the application form:
$200ships Application Form (2 pages, 97kb)
Conferences
CYK organise a biannual youth conference called ‘SPLAT’ (Solving Problems Lying Around Teenagers).
The conference is for 100 local young people who attend two workshops throughout the day on topical issues. The conferences are always successful events enjoyed by participants, who present the Council with a follow-up report.
Funding
CYK prepare an annual Business Plan which outlines their work for each year. The Kapiti Coast District Council provides some financial support for their activities but CYK look to access additional funds for one-off projects such as Te Tuna Ki Paraparaumu.
Membership
CYK members come from local colleges, polytechnics, training institutions or individuals.
If you would like to be a member of CYK, read the job description and fill out an application form:
CYK Member Job Description (2 pages, 80kb)
CYK Member Application Form (1 pages, 49kb).
Links
For more information on issues important to youth, check out these websites:
www.fade.org.nz
Website of the Foundation for Drug and Alcohol Education.
www.alcohol.org.nz
Youth website of the NZ Alcohol Advisory Council.
www.fpanz.org.nz
Website of the Family Planning Association, which provides sexual and reproductive health information, clinical services, education, training and research.
www.youthlaw.co.nz
Free legal service for children and young people.
www.urge.co.nz and www.whakamanawa.co.nz
Youth health and information service to assist young people find useful information or resources on alcohol, sex, drugs, careers, body image and more.
www.reprazent.org.nz
A New Zealand youth forum website where a variety of topics relating to young people are discussed.
www.theword.org.nz
Answers for all those questions about sex, life and relationships.
www.trippin.co.nz
Ideas and solutions to help deal with tripping out to depression, worries and fears, alcohol and drugs, stress, or stuff to do with sex and sexuality.
www.youthline.co.nz
Youthline’s site, which provides development opportunities and confidential support for young people from all walks of life.
www.skylight.org.nz
Support for children and teenagers, and those caring for them who are facing change, loss and grief.
www.myd.govt.nz
Opportunities for young people to contribute to the cultural, social and economic policies and services that affect New Zealand’s development.
www.fpanz.org.nz
Website of the Family Planning Association, which works to promote a positive view of sexuality and to enable people to make informed choices about their sexual and reproductive health and wellbeing. Free services include contraception, STI checks, educational resources, PMS, adolescent sexuality, pregnancy tests.
www.sportkapiti.org.nz
Sport Kapiti: information on upcoming events, past event results and photos, sports club information and links, as well as youth sport and physical recreation information.