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The HBC Youth Centre in Orewa can breathe a little easier on hearing recently that Auckland Council will give it a one-off grant of $100,000.
The Hibiscus & Bays Local Board has advocated strongly for this support and is “over the moon”, according to chair Gary Brown, at the news.
Council also passed a recommendation for the youth centre to seek more secure ongoing funding through the Council’s Long Term Plan process, which begins later in the year.
Cr John Watson says some disturbing statistics related to the impact of Covid-19 on young people were also revealed at the same meeting. They included: that youth unemployment has increased at twice the rate of older people, as a larger percentage of young people are employed in retail, tourism and hospitality; youth are experiencing higher rates of loneliness and isolation; 34 percent of the homeless people housed in motels by Lifewise during lockdown were under 29 years old and, in some parts of Auckland the percentage of young people not in education, employment or training is now over 25 percent with an even bigger spike being expected next month when the wage subsidy ends.
The HBC Youth Centre provides programmes in music, arts, sport and recreation and community and leadership. Among its focuses are mental health, employment and mentoring.
It averages more than 39,000 participants a year, making it one of the largest youth centres in Auckland.
