The Te Rourou, One Aotearoa Foundation presented the He Ringa Hāpai — Youth Sector conference in Invercargill yesterday while supporting the release of the "I Feel Really Good When ... strengthening youth mental health and wellbeing in Murihiku Southland" report.
Minister for Youth Willow-Jean Prime spoke at the conference and listened to some of the concerns voiced by Southland’s youth sector workers.
"One of the strong themes that came through from the questions and answers today is our joint concern about youth mental health and wellbeing," she said.
"We are all aware of the increasing mental health issues that we have for our young people, and are worried that we don’t have the services and the supports that they need to respond to that."
Initiatives like the conference were an important aspect of addressing those concerns, to bring youth sector workers together in order to find place-based solutions and programmes, she said.
Professor and director at Toi Āria: Design for Public Good Anna Brown, who was the lead researcher on the report and day-two keynote speaker, said Toi Āria had been working with One Aotearoa for about three years in Invercargill to make sure youth voices were front and centre in projects implemented by One Aotearoa.
Te Rourou One Aotearoa Foundation Community catalyst Mandy Smith said part of their mahi in Murihiku was to "supercharge the sector" and create more connections for those working in youth development.
