Negotiating life as a young person is progressively challenging.  In addition to the significant physical and emotional changes experienced, the culture of our young people is fast becoming isolated from the adult world.  Erosion of the family unit, drug and alcohol abuse, and inappropriate use of social media are just some of the challenges.  The fallout is significant: 1 in 5 young people experience mental illness.  1 in 3 experience suicidal thoughts and / or self-harm.

16000 young people attend Intermediate and Secondary Schools in the Howick area (South East Auckland) and the focus of YCDT lies there.  The area has a reputation for having good schools which makes it a desirable place to live for families.  Although the area does not have some of the major issues of poverty which other communities face, it is not immune from the challenges already mentioned.  Personal observation and local stories (read our stories) back this view up. 

Schools are large and diverse.  Pakuranga College, for example has a roll of about 2200 pupils made up of more than 60 different ethnic groups.  Although East Auckland is often thought of as a relatively high socio-econoimic section of the city there is in fact a very diverse range of needs and issues surfacing in our community. Recreational drug use and binge drinking are massive problems for our community to tackle.   Our youth workers are one part of a network which supports young people when they have struggles.  Beyond that they provide encouragement and support for young people who might not generally be seen to be in high need, but who are not really thriving for various reasons.  The long term presence approach of having youth workers in schools can prevent some teens from hitting the “bottom of the cliff” and so be in need of major and costly interventions.  It can also help to lift motivation, self esteem and a sense of purpose for young people which can lead to them going further with their education and being able to fit into society as contributing member of local communities. 

Because we are a Trust which seeks to raise funds for youth work in a reasonably high socio-economic area, some funders might see other areas as more needy and allocate their funding accordingly.  This means that every bit of funding we receive from a variety of sources is highly valued.