Direction at a turning point in life

The Graeme Dingle Foundation helps young people reach potential. ‘‘When it was dark enough for the streetlights to turn on my brothers would pick me up from home and we would walk the streets,’’ says one former Graeme Dingle Foundation student.

‘‘We always had the urge to feel alive. I wanted to feel like Pete from the movie Green Street Hooligans. We would steal radios and sell them, steal cars and crash them, break windows of homes and cars. Sneak into houses we thought were rich, so it would be a bigger score. Like we were in an action movie.’’

He was 14 and naughty, hated school and wanted to drop out early. He was shy, anti-social and only wanted to keep to himself.

Then he was introduced to a Graeme Dingle Foundation programme which helped him build self-confidence and social skills.

He was paired with a mentor who supported him with goals and kept him on track.

He says ‘‘My mentor, Tony saw me once a week in and out of school and always made sure I was up to date with my schoolwork and kept me out of trouble. Tony believed in me like no one else did and because of him I stayed in school, went to university, and now have a fulltime job as an arborist. And one day I plan to be a mentor.

‘‘The person I used to be is in the past. The mischief, the bad man. I’ve looked further into the future to where I want to be and who I’m going to be. I will travel around the world and climb all sorts of trees in all sorts of weather; snow, rain, storm, whatever.

‘‘The place where I will take a deep breath in is Canada. Climbing a cedar tree in the snow at the top of the mountains. That is when I know I will feel complete’’ he says.

Talking about his mentor experience the young person says: ‘‘To those that can be, become a mentor, your reward will be that you have changed someone’s life. That mentee you just helped could’ve been on the streets being a hooligan or in jail. Instead, they looked at another path, sitting on the mountains in Canada having a drink with me.’’

The Graeme Dingle Foundation works with New Zealand’s young people at different life stages, working directly with schools and communities through our programmes. Its programmes are currently delivered to over 26,000 young people across New

Zealand every year.

Established in 1995, it is proud to be a leading Child and Youth Development charity.

To find out more about the Graeme Dingle Foundation go to dinglefoundation.org.nz

■ This article is published in association with the Graeme Dingle Foundation as part of a commercial arrangement between Stuff and Graeme Dingle Foundation.