Funding and Operations
Youth Destinations is funded through a combination of in-kind investment from North Shore City Council, including office space and organisational support, while SPARC (Sport and Recreation New Zealand) contribute to the project through an Active Communities investment over 3 years.
This SPARC investment provides a platform from which Youth Destinations are now planning to develop into a financially sustainable operation. The starting point for this has been demonstrating the value of the project to the community and other prospective partner organisations.
Youth Destinations and In2it are project managed from within the North Shore City Council Community Liaison Team with Community Liaison Manager, Lisa Tocker, as project sponsor. In2it operates from separate premises with a significant degree of autonomy. This helps them keep responsive to their audience, while the standard requirements for reporting and transparency apply. The programme has two co-ordinators who are key to developing relationships with schools and clubs.
Partnerships
Partnerships within North Shore City Council are important to the success of Youth Destinations. One of the key outcomes for the project is to create strategic partnerships that offer sustainable opportunities for young people to get involved in physical activity. The development of partnerships and strategic direction for the project is also supported by a steering group, which meets once every six months. Membership is diverse (see below) and stakeholders have added significant value to the project to date:
- North Harbour Secondary Schools Principals Association (Chair)
- 18 Ltd (a research company specialising in young people)
- Harbour Sport
- Ministry of Youth Development
- North Shore City Council
- New Zealand Police
- SPARC
- Community Co-ordinators (Trust based community development workers).
Key partnerships have also been forged with local businesses such as Cheapskates, and suppliers like the graphics team Gang - www.gang.co.nz. "Having a strong partnership relationship with suppliers and event partners means that we know each other’s working style well, and can easily hook into the project vision and approach. We can pounce on ideas and opportunities put forward by young people, and make things happen very quickly if we need to, because we are so in tune with our project partners", says Lisa Tocker.
Mapping existing partnerships and providing an assessment of the city’s existing Youth Destinations is the Youth Destinations Network Plan. This plan identifies gaps and opportunities and is being used to guide the development and enhancement of additional Youth Destinations across the city.
Updated | 08 Jun 2009.
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