Latest News

Massey’s Raise Up youth group has secured $38k in funding for a new Youth Hub to be located at Massey Leisure Centre managed by YMCA.

Our youth crew, Raise Up, had a big year in 2016 and they finished it off in style with a fantastic Graduation Day held in Auckland City. Read the article to hear a bit about the fun activities they got up to.

According to recent research by Auckland Council, there are almost 500,000 children and young people living in Auckland alone. That means almost 40% of Auckland’s total population is under the age of 25. This figure rises to as high as 52% in some local board areas, but either way, has the potential to give vibrancy to Auckland, if the vision and energy of those young people are channeled. YMCA Auckland’s youth development programme, Raise Up, is doing just that!

Find out how James Toohey from the Mt Albert Community is benefiting from YMCA's partnership with Outward Bound.

In West Auckland, the Raise Up crew for 2014 was comprised of young people from a range of backgrounds, including representatives from five of the local high schools. One such young person is 15 year old Massey High School student, Jordan Matakatea, who has been part of the Raise Up Crew based at Massey for the last three years.

Read about Jordan's journey with RaiseUp and YMCA.

Conin Bowker has been working with YMCA Auckland since 2013, and in March he stepped into the role of Raise Up Coordinator based at Massey Leisure Centre managed by YMCA.  Prior to this appointment, he had helped with the Raise Up Crew for several years, particularly with their dance events.  Conin is also the Gymnastics Coordinator for YMCA Auckland.

From crew member to staff member read about Conin's journey in YMCA.

On the 27^th of July, the Raise up crew from YMCA Onehunga hosted CommUnity Kai, a fantastic event when local families could come along for a feed at a makeshift community soup kitchen.

Find out how Raise Up is warming the tummies of local community members.

New Zealand Red Cross Community Trainer, Gayle Dupa, says, “While New Zealand Red Cross won’t say “do” or “don’t” to these decisions, we believe it is critical to provide the information to assist young people to make informed choices about their alcohol and other drug use – and offer some hands-on ways to help them out of trouble.”

Find out how YMCA and Red Cross are working together to empower young people in our communities to be safe.