Stars welcomes PricewaterhouseCoopers Foundation

14 May 2007

Stars welcomes PricewaterhouseCoopers Foundation
as National Sponsor

Kathryn Roberts & John Harvey from PricewaterhouseCoopers Foundation

Last Wednesday at the official launch in Auckland, Foundation for Youth Development's Executive Director Jo-anne Wilkinson announced
PricewaterhouseCoopers Foundation as the new National Sponsor for Stars, an FYD programme.

Established in 2000 by Graeme Dingle and Jo-anne Wilkinson, Stars assists year 9 students with a safe transition into their secondary school environment through peer mentoring with senior students, adventure camps and projects throughout the school year. Stars is currently run in seven schools in five regions across New Zealand.

As part of the three year agreement PwC Foundation will:

* Provide ongoing support and assistance with Stars regional business and budget planning and monitoring across the regions.

* Endeavour to achieve involvement of all PricewaterhouseCoopers offices where both Stars and PwC operate

* Encourage staff to participate in mentor training for FYDs Project K programme for 14-15 year olds, with the intention of becoming a Project K Mentor.

Wilkinson welcomed the relationship saying "The professionalism that the PwC Foundation will bring in assisting our licensees around the country is very generous. But the keenness of PwC personnel to get involved in mentoring in both the Stars and Project K programmes will add huge value to those young people as they transition from school to further study or training."

The relationship is a natural fit for PricewaterhouseCoopers who wanted to work within charitable causes of education, youth at risk and assisting youths. More so PwC wanted to work with a charity that supported its values of teamwork, leadership and excellence.

John Harvey from the PwC Foundation said "We wanted an association which was about more than just money. We wanted to enable our young staff to use their skills to work with the school mentors and students, to act as role models for the students to aspire to.

The Stars and PwC Foundation association which we are celebrating tonight has been designed to achieve these things and we are committed to working with Jo-anne, Graeme and the FYD team to make this happen."

Note to Editors:

1. About Foundation for Youth Development:
FYD, a not-for-profit organisation was founded as Project K in 1994 by Graeme Dingle and Jo-anne Wilkinson and is a leader in the field of youth development in New Zealand. Providing young people from age 5 to 18 with the opportunity to build self-confidence, and learn valuable life skills by participating in unique development programmes. Current programmes include Project K, Stars and Kiwi Can.

2. About Stars:
Stars is a programmme for all year 9 students where teachers are Group Leaders and senior students are trained to be Peer Mentors. The programme assists the year 9 students make a safe transition into their secondary school environment and develops leadership in the seniors thereby creating a strong sense of community within the school. The full-year programme is incorporated in the school curriculum and includes a one week outdoor camp and over the year learning teamwork, perseverance, planning, organization, leadership, time management, health and nutrition, setting homework and academic goals. Students are supported by teachers and senior student mentors.

3. About PricewaterhouseCoopers:
PricewaterhouseCoopers (www.pwc.com) provides industry-focused assurance, tax and advisory services to build public trust and enhance value for its clients and their stakeholders. More than 130,000 people in 148 countries work collaboratively using Connected Thinking to develop fresh perspectives and practical advice. ("PricewaterhouseCoopers" refers to the network of member firms of PricewaterhouseCoopers International Limited, each of which is a separate and independent legal entity.)

ENDS

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