A youth fund is helping Māori support youth leadership and cultural development.
Ruia is an annual fund set up in 2019 by the Whānau Ora collective, Te Pūtahitanga o Te Waipounamu, the Rātā Foundation and the Ministry of Youth Development, for ideas or initiatives that serve 12-24-year-olds in the South Island, Stewart Island and Chatham Islands.
Hundreds of rangatahi have benefited from the fund, said pou ārahi Ivy Harper.
Funded activities included sports events, noho marae and wānanga, where Harper believed future leaders could grow their skills.
“It’s an opportunity to lead among their own, but also in front of pakeke who can see those leadership qualities in them, and have given them that opportunity,” she said.
