Growing a stronger youth voice
Youth councillors from each Area Council recently gathered in Wellington for a youth hui. They built stronger connections, a better understanding of the role of a youth councillor and shared ideas on goal setting and how to attract more young people to the New Zealand Red Cross.
Growing the number of young people involved in New Zealand Red Cross is a key part of our 2030 journey. While we have seen an increase in the number of Red Cross young people, currently, only nine per cent of our members are aged under 30 which is not yet representative of the population.
National Youth Representative Sarita Love says the two-day hui provided an important opportunity for all the new youth councillors to connect and share ideas on what they would like to achieve during their term.
“Being able to gather in person and get to know each other is vital as the role of youth councillor is quite different under the new Area Model so people had questions about their role and how it fits in with the broader structure. We talked about governance, relationship building, and looked at the goals that we want to achieve and how Red Cross can support the realisation of these goals.”
Next steps for youth councillors
Sarita says Youth Councillors will focus on understanding how New Zealand Red Cross connects with young people – this includes gathering data on the numbers of young members in each area, looking at current programmes for rangatahi and exploring ideas to attract more young people to the organisation.
“We need to highlight young people who are part of Red Cross and share their stories so that younger people can see themselves in our organisation.”
Who is leading the work?
Sarita Love, National Youth Representative and National Board member, leads and supports the youth hui.
Suzanne Vowles, Director Membership and Volunteering is leading this programme of work to attract more volunteers, supported by Kurt Solomon, Senior Youth Advisor, for the specific focus on youth.
General Managers Fiona Ross and Sean Stewart are leading the Area Model project under our Realising 2030 programme.
Learn more
To view a list of the area councils and the area councillors please visit our information page below.
For more information on Strategy 2030 please view our strategy booklet below.
To learn more about our Youth Strategy, please view the strategy here.
Youth Engagement Strategy 2020-2030
Header image credit: Sharing ideas on how to develop a stronger youth voice and ways to attract young people to Red Cross were key themes at a recent hui for youth councillors held in Wellington. Back row from left: Dan Wilden (Area 7 Youth Councillor), Sarita Love (National Youth Representative), Brydon Sundgren (Area 2 Youth Councillor), Casey Glover (Area 6 Youth Councillor), Ronal Reddy (Area 1 Youth Councillor), front row from left: Dilukshi Thurairajah (Area 1 Youth Councillor), Rachel Wilson (Area 5 Youth Councillor), Tayler Everett (Area 3 Youth Councillor), Lauren McInnes (Area 4 Youth Councillor)