August 14, 2017
Ngapuhi opens Kaikohe youth centre
The Ngapuhi Runanga opened a new centre for Kaikohe's youth.
Te Uma o Te Kona, named after the mother of famed Ngapuhi warrior Hone Heke, is a joint project of the runanga, the Northland social wellbeing governance group place-based initiative Kainga Ora, and the government's regional growth programme.
Runanga chair Sonny Tau says the shift of services from Kaikohe to Kerikeri and other centres has left the town struggling.
There have been calls for more than a decade for a youth centre, which is also seen a a way to address the gap between school and tertiary study of jobs in an area with high youth unemployment.
"We have to find something they can do that will occupy them. We provide the space. They can go in there and learn typing skills and computer skills and other skills that can help see them better off in life but the main thing is they have a place to congregate and they have a place to let off steam," Mr Tau says.
Te Uma o Te Kona youth centre will help with education and training to get work in the primary sector, where future job growth in the region is expected to come from.
Copyright © 2017, UMA Broadcasting Ltd: www.waateanews.com