A group of enterprising and enthusiastic young people formed Volunteering Northland’s Whangārei Youth Action Group to do good in our community!
Are you a Whangārei based young person who wants to make a change in your community but you don’t know where to start? Join the Whangārei Youth Action Group to get involved and make this community better for everyone!
Together, we organise events and projects for young people like Youth Week, the Puāwai Festival, Youth Volunteer Holiday Programmes, trips to the Festival For The Future, Amazing Races and more! We help our community where we can and always love to welcome new members.
Join our group or sign up for our youth events newsletter with more opportunities to help the community!
We started our group in late 2023 through generous funding from the Northland Community Foundation for a Youth Project. We are connected to the Whangarei District Council’s Youth Advisory Group (YAG), the Youth Networkers Meetings in Whangārei and other youth focused organisations.
Our Members
The Whangārei Youth Action Group has seven highly motivated young core members, of which three are also part of YAG. We usually meet once a month to dicuss our newest projects.
Ciara Elliot
Ella Dorrington
Frankie Johns
Grayson Sutherland
Jodie Rameka
Liesl Musto
Stella Moreton
Volunteering Northland Facilitator
Verena Pschorn
Projects for 2025
MARCH Highschools Roadshow
We will present volunteer opportunities at the High Schools Roadshow to a wide range of students. Come and say hello!
APRIL Beach Clean
The much anticipated beach clean day is finally in the making!
MAY Youth Week
We'll be involved in Youth Week - wait and see what we come up with!
MAY The Amazing Youth Volunteer Race
The Amazing Youth Volunteer Race is back: race around the Whangarei CBD for up to two hours while competing for prizes and completing micro-volunteering activities for community organisations.
MAY Youth Market Day
We have amazing young creators and artists in our community and want to give them a chance to display and sell their products! Top it off with great food and music, and you have a market!
Our Projects in 2024
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DECEMBER Youth Holiday Program: KiwiNorth Action Day
We helped KiwiNorth (Museum, Kiwi House, Heritage Park) and the other community organisations at the Heritage Park with a range of tasks on their property, from weeding and working on the land and in the workshops, to social media support - we esven saw kiwis! This helps to show off what we as a community have to offer and supports the whole of Whangārei by attracting more visitors.
DECEMBER Youth Holiday Program: Sustainable Christmas Wrapping for Youth
We created sustainable gift wrapping options for our community pop up in December! This helped us to minimise gift wrapping waste in Whangārei by creating alternative and personalised options to wrap presents.
NOVEMBER CV-Writing for Youth One-on-One
Polish up or create a CV with our support - wether you want to apply for summer jobs, jobs after you finished school or scholarships for university. We offered peer support with first steps in creating or going over one's CV.
OCTOBER Youth Holiday Program: Nature Action Day
Our work with the Maungatapere Mountain Trust supported the growth of our native forests and creating habitats for our birds and other native species. We plated flaxes, removed climbing asparagus, learned heaps about the environment and walked up the mountain to admire swamp maire with their delicate roots. We even found a weta - and the biggest native passionfruit tree in the area!
SEPTEMBER Youth Holiday Program: ReStore Action Day
Habitat ReStore Northland welcomed us with a group of young people who wanted to help out for a day! We learned what volunteering for the ReStore looks like and about the amazing community impact of op shops like the ReStore - we helped with decorating displays, sorting clothes and books, cleaning shoes and a whole lot more that needs to be done behind the scenes every day!
JULY Festival for the Future Wellington Visit
Our latest project was the Festival for the Future in Wellington, where we got to meet other young leaders from all across Aotearoa, to learn from each other and share ideas. We are so excited! This will really take our work to the next level, and we already have plans for the coming few months.’
MAY Puāwai Youth Wellbeing Festival
The free event brought over 200 visitors to Whangārei Boys High School and invited 13 – 24-year-olds to have fun in an inclusive environment with a strong emphasis on mental and physical wellbeing. Plenty of food, market stalls, activities, and entertainment were provided to ensure a vibrant atmosphere. Additionally, approximately 20 organisations specialising in youth wellbeing, education, training and employment opportunities attended, providing information on ways youth can access help and support.
MAY The Amazing Youth Volunteer Race
The Amazing Youth Volunteer Race saw 30 young people in eight teams braving the wet weather conditions to race around the Whangarei CBD for up to two hours while competing for prizes and completing micro volunteering activities.
MARCH School Strike 4 Climate
Two of our members organised the School Strike 4 Climate march here in Whangārei!
If you want to know more about the Whangārei Youth Action Group or want to join, you can either call or email Verena on 027 607 3711 or verena@volunteeringnorthland.nz, or fill out the expression of interest form and we will be in touch.
Follow the group’s adventures for a better Whangārei on Instagram @whangareiyouthaction or sign up for their newsletter!