Young people to benefit from collaborative funding

31 January 2017
Press Release

Young people to benefit from collaborative funding

Hundreds of young people in the Wellington Region will benefit from Ignite Sport Trust receiving government funding through the Youth Partnership Fund.

Ministry of Youth Development has invested $87,000 in the Lower Hutt-based youth development organisation. Other partner contributions will help fund the year-long programme which totals almost $300,000.

“We are thrilled to receive the funding, It will go a long way to support our ongoing work with local young people. In addition, it will enable Ignite Sport to grow its influence in new schools, says Trust coordinator Kevin Goldsbury following the announcement today by Minister for Youth Nikki Kaye.

“By working together everyone achieves more, which is why partnerships are of critical importance to us,” he says.

Mr Goldsbury says Ignite Sport is extremely grateful to the many individuals who contribute to the trust. “These donors are our funding backbone. Without their support we could not provide our innovative programmes which empower young people to be the best they can.”

The schools in which Ignite Sport works and other funding organisations make up the body of the partnership.

The investment provides 780 youth development opportunities to be shared among the 10 or more schools in which Ignite Sport works. The organisation provides small group mentoring programmes and youth initiatives for young people aged 12-18 years.

Programmes are predominantly delivered in low-decile schools and also with young people considered ‘at risk’. Sport and recreation are used to connect with and inspire young people through workshops, activities and sports. The programmes help young people recognise pathways to succeed in life as well as develop their sporting ability.

Ignite Sport has been working in the Wellington Region since 2001 and was established as a trust in 2007. “It is great to receive this funding in our 10th year,” says Mr Goldsbury. “We are delighted to have this partnership behind us to begin the school year.”

Ignite Sport currently works with students from Wainuiomata and Maidstone Intermediates, Porirua, Naenae and Heretaunga Colleges, Wainuiomata and Hutt Valley High Schools, the Hutt Valley Activity Centre and the Hutt Valley Teen Parenting Unit, among other groups.

The organisation also provides a resettlement programme, Fusion, for young people with a refugee background, in Lower Hutt, Porirua, Hamilton and Palmerston North, in partnership with New Zealand Red Cross.

The Youth Partnership fund with Ignite Sport:
- Government funding of $87,000
- $220,000 funding and in-kind support from schools, individual donations and charitable trusts, including the Taylor Memorial Trust, Nikau Foundation, the Thomas George Macarthy Trust and Vavasour Charitable Trust, in addition to New Zealand Lotteries Board.

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