Making life better for young people
They work hard and voluntarily to make life better for youth in the Taupo¯ District.
So it was a massive boost to the members of the Anamata Team — a group of senior college students and young people aged from 13 to 19 — to win two awards at the Taupo¯ District Youth Awards.
The Anamata Youth Team won the Innovation Award first and then at the end of the evening picked up the Supreme Award for Overall Outstanding Achievement.
The Anamata Youth Team, which has been running since 2013 and originally known as the A Team, comes under the umbrella of youth and sexual health organisation Anamata Cafe. The Anamata Team focuses on youth development, health promotion, and creating campaigns on issues of importance. This year that has included Pink Shirt Day (against bullying), White Ribbon Day (against family violence), Day of Silence (promoting diversity especially LGBQTI safety) and oneoff fun events such as the local colour run and random acts of kindness.
Matt Connon, 17, responsible for communications and on the Anamata Team for nearly two years, says team members meet every Monday for 90 minutes to two hours, and although it’s quite a time commitment, it doesn’t feel like work.
“It’s just a lot of fun.”
The team comes up with the ideas and Anamata Cafe health promoter Mary Lou Clark helps them deliver it.
Matt says while being on the team has been a big learning curve, he has had the opportunity to improve his public speaking skills, learned how to organise events, work collaboratively with other groups and organisations, provide support to peers and learn about young people’s issues.
He says much of the team’s work this year has celebrated diversity, with the message Make a Choice to Take a Chance to Make a Change.
“This year’s campaign has been around encouraging good selfesteem and encouraging kindness and acceptance of diversity, of who you are,” Matt says.
“A lot of the discussion that we have is that mental health is such a big issue with youth these days, it’s telling people that there are people out there to support you and it’s okay to be you and you shouldn’t alter yourself because of what people say.”
Activities included a post on Facebook where people had to say something nice about a friend and tag that person so they would see it. Another was a Kindness Box at both colleges where students could write nice things about their friends. The Anamata Team chose five from each school who received certificates and tuckshop vouchers to encourage kindness. Matt says that one was particularly successful, with hundreds of kindness notes received.
He says the team members understand the difficulty of being young and growing up and trying to find yourself and trying to fit in.
After winning the Innovation Award at the Taupo¯ District Youth Awards, the Anamata Team was entered into the finals of the Supreme Award. Matt says he was surprised and really excited when Anamata Team was called to the stage for a second time.
“I was really proud of the team and what we’ve done and everything over the past two years just seeing what we’ve done and how far we’ve come and all the changes we’ve been through.”
Anamata Cafe manager Annabel Prescott says the team is successful because it is relevant to young people.
“To make things relevant it has to be based on a young person’s voice. What this award meant to us is that young people were being validated for their contribution and they were being heard.”
The 14 members of the Anamata Team are James CorkPeters, Jack McNeill, Michaela Pointon, Laura Nicholls, Maia Hura, Mereana Smyth, Axel Mastny-Jensen, Matt Connon, Jordyn Simmonds, Paige Downard, Courtney Mayall, Ella McQuilkin, Petra White, Hohua Aramoana.
■ Feeling low? For mental health support at any time you can text 1737 to speak to a trained counsellor.