Yo yo - there r some Rutherfords 4 youth initiatives and a youth committee has da hook ups.
Eastern and Central Community Trust (ECCT) has launched a new trust fund and has put a youth committee in charge.
A committee made up of rangatahi themselves would manage grants between $100and $5000 for projects deemed as making a positive impact in the ECCT regions - Horowhenua, Manawatū, Wairarapa, Tararua, Hawke's Bay and Tairāwhiti.
The fund aimed to "assist and empower rangatahi (youth) to deliver projects in their school or community."
ECCT Rangatahi rōpū member, Geordie Parrant, of Levin, said the group was "pretty open to what we could fund".
Parrant said the initiative would see youth themselves "make decisions about youth with youth for youth."
"The main thing is that it is youth-led. That means that young people have the idea and run it. Adults can help but young people need to organise the project. Applications for the funding need to come from young people, not adults," he said.
"We have so many awesome youth with heaps of big ideas. Now they have a chance to have the financial backing to make these ideas come to life."
Molly Fuauli and Geordie Parrant at the Youth Space at Te Takere.
ECCT's rangatahi rōpū, which consists of 15 members aged between 16 and 25, will assess all applications against their criteria and make funding allocations as they see fit.
Parrant was joined on the committee by Molly Fuauli. The pair both employed at the Youth Space at Te Takere and saw their new roles as a natural extension of their day-to-day work.
Meanwhile, applications for the Youth-Led Fund are invited from individuals and groups of young people, aged between 12-24.
Projects could include sports events, making and promoting a film, holding a wānanga at a local marae, running an environmental project, creating a youth market, promoting te reo in your community, starting a youth website, hosting a youth art exhibition or painting a mural.
The new fund has stemmed from ECCT's Rangatahi Project, which has seen ECCT collaborate with its very own rangatahi rōpū, as well as community organisations, to guide funding to young people for the next five years.
Eastern and Central Community Trust chairwoman, Shelly Mitchell-Jenkins says ECCT recognises that children and young people are key priorities in the regions it serves.
"We value our youth – their needs, aspirations and dreams for the future – which is why they are a focus area in our funding strategy. Our goal is to support young people in our region to reach their potential."
