Kāpiti Coast Youth Council | Ngā Rangatahi O Kāpiti

We're a group of rangatahi aged 14–24 years from across the Kāpiti Coast, who act as a voice for the young people of Kāpiti to Council.

If you're aged 14–24 and keen to make a difference in your community, get involved in awesome community-based projects, and meet like-minded rangatahi who will support you and work collaboratively to make big ideas happen, then you should consider applying to join our Youth Council! 

We aren't looking for a specific type of young person, instead, we value our differences and know that it makes us stronger as a collective.

You don't need impressive grades, volunteering experience, or heaps of extra-curricular activities; you just need an interest in helping the rangatahi of Kāpiti to thrive and the ability to work with other young people to make it happen. Applications are open to any rangatahi aged 14-24 who live on the Kāpiti Coast, or regularly attend school here.

Role

Our role as a Youth Council is to:

• advocate for young people’s voices in Kāpiti
• support youth projects
• showcase young people and their achievements
• connect young people to their community
• educate young people on civic issues​.

Work

The Kāpiti Coast Youth Council delivers a range of different projects and is involved in many different work areas including:

• running events and initiatives like Youth Week, Kāpiti Enviro Youth Summit, and social media campaigns to showcase and connect with young people and youth voting projects
• representing young people on things like the Creative Communities Funding Committee
• youth consultations at local colleges and in the community to keep us in the know
• partnering with college career departments to run the Kāpiti Careers Expo
• partnership activities with Zeal Kāpiti
• youth grant funding.

Youth action plan goals

The Youth Action Plan outlines the joint commitments Council and the Youth Council make to young people in the district aged 12–24 years of age. The Action Plan seeks to improve the quality of life for young people living in the district and benefits for the district through increased youth participation in decision-making in core Council business.

• Goal 1: Communities which are safe for and supportive of our diverse youth communities
• Goal 2: A Council which values and listens to its young people
• Goal 3: A District which has youth friendly spaces and places
• Goal 4: A District where there is lots for young people to do
• Goal 5: A District which supports strong positive youth development

Each year the Youth Council direct their programme of work to progress towards the overall outcomes and goals of the Action Plan.

Kāpiti Enviro Youth Summit

Kāpiti Enviro Youth Summit founders, Maha Fier and Sophie Handford, have passed on the responsibility of running this annual summit to the Youth Council. This event is a free day of workshops, influential speakers, and interschool networking, aimed at inspiring young people to keep taking climate action.

Hearing youth voices

To keep us connected to what young people think, want and need we have held various consultations including 'Tell us your vision' using Live Illustrators, local 'Tell us what you think' consultations in Ōtaki and other communities, 'What's your idea' type consultations on specific places like parks.

We also do a districtwide survey every four years. Kāpiti Coast Youth Survey 2016 (Youth Survey) and information gathered from other engagement processes inform the goals and aims of the Action Plan. The survey captured the voices of over 15 percent of the youth population aged between 12-24 years. Most of the survey respondents were aged between 12-18 years of age.

Funding youth projects

The Kāpiti Coast Youth Council has provided funding to young people for many years. Each year we deliver a grant scheme for youth-led projects which have a positive impact on young people and the wider community in Kāpiti called Think Big.

Youth development centre – partnering with Zeal

Zeal Education Trust have been contracted by the Council to deliver the Youth Development Centre in Paraparaumu and satellite services out in other communities across Kāpiti. The journey started in 2010 when the Youth Council identified the need for a youth centre through a district-wide youth survey.

The Youth Council then used the Council's Long Term Plan consultation process to raise awareness in the community of youth needs, promote the youth centre concept and foster community support. We are thrilled to have Zeal in Kāpiti and look forward to continuing to work in partnership with them in the new Youth Development Centre and on various upcoming events.