Meet one of our great not-for-profit members BOP Youth Development Trust (BOPYDT).
Established in November 2017, its vision is to see ‘vibrant, independent and responsible youth, contributing to their communities’ with a mission to ‘inspire youth to believe in themselves and achieve dreams they never thought possible’.
Led by chairman Craig Nees and IBA Employer Relationship Manager Mark Inman, BOPYDT operates a strategic youth facility comprising a boxing/fitness gym, meeting and training rooms on The Strand to deliver values-based fitness programmes which help youth:
- learn discipline and get physically and mentally fit.
- understand and learn core values.
- develop leadership capability and self-confidence through access to positive role models and mentors.
We asked Mark some quick-fire questions to learn more about this awesome not-for-profit and how they are working with local businesses to help support youth in our community.
Tell us a bit about the Trust & the services you offer:
BOPYDT has four programmes –
Imagine Believe Achieve (IBA): A 13-plus week intensive programme of personal development and work experience, followed by ongoing pastoral support to provide at-risk youth a pathway into employment.
This programme supports young people in Tauranga, who are not currently in employment, education, or training and who are at-risk of either long-term benefit dependency, with potentially negative life outcomes resulting from disengagement in school and education, and/or those subject to adverse early-life experiences.
AIGA Suicide Prevention programme for Pasifika youth
Tauranga Boxing Academy (TBA): Providing values-based fitness classes and mentoring for youth aged 9-18 years after school or during the day for organisations;
Ki Tai: A marine-based outdoor education/fitness programme – currently in development.
These programmes operate in synergy together and are funded through local charities or central government agencies.
The Trust leverages off existing business connections to develop employment, business and community networks. This has enabled the growth and on-going success of the various BOPYDT programmes.
The Trust hosts the Piritahi Youth Collective, a collaboration of community entities involved with at-risk youth in Tauranga and we foster strategic partnerships with local employers to enhance employment and training opportunities for youth.
The Trust will move to larger premises by November 2021 to enable the continued growth of its programmes. This has been made possible by the support of the local business community and philanthropic funders.
The Bay of Plenty Youth Development Trust won the Rising Star Award at the TECT Community Awards in March 2021. These awards recognise outstanding contributions being made to the community in the Western Bay of Plenty.
Why was the Trust formed? How did it start?
Founding Trustees identified the need for an organisation to work specifically with troubled youth and provide them with ongoing support that might change their lives for the better.
Once the Trust was established, the TBA gym was developed and resourced, and the success of the initial TBA programme quickly demonstrated that the need in the community was large and unmet.
The rapid growth of BOPYDT and the strong ongoing community support being received has led to ongoing programme development and diversification.
How are you having a positive impact on the community?
It has been proven that programmes that provide a supportive values and fitness based environment are a successful vehicle to help troubled youth develop self-confidence and change their outlook on life.
BOPYDT delivers its programmes to support youth between nine to 24 years in the wider Tauranga region. Central to our BOPYDT programmes is the teaching of five core values: Manaakitanga (kindness), Takohanga (responsibility), Whakaute (respect), Whakapono (trust) and Manawaroa (resilience).
The Tauranga Boxing Academy uses the skills of boxing fitness to help build character around these five core values.
Imagine, Believe, Achieve/Moemoea, Kimihia, Taea (IBA) reinforces these core values, teaches employability skills and competencies, assists youth in establishing a personal development plan and vision for their future, encourages fitness and resilience, provides understanding of job opportunities, and supports youth into meaningful employment.
The Aiga (Pasifika youth suicide prevention) programme builds on the values and fitness opportunities provided by BOPYDT with added experiences designed to provide resilience and awareness of mental wellbeing in a cultural context suitable for Pasifika youth.
We are excited to bring a new programme Ki Tai into the mix in the near future, making the most of our beautiful Bay of Plenty waters and encouraging environmental awareness and the development of ocean-based skills and strength, in our youth.
Our strategic partnership with local industry and employers allows us to not only support youth – which has a positive flow-on positive effect to the wider community, we also work to achieve successful and sustained employment for youth by understanding the needs of local business and Industry and supporting the integration process of youth into their workplace.
We provide mentoring to young people as they transition into the workplace and therefore support employers to retain and feel confident in upskilling new staff.
We also welcome opportunities for local employers wanting to give-back to their communities by offering their knowledge to youth looking for career opportunities, work experience, employment and so on.
What makes the Trust unique?
The Trust has extremely strong business and community connections, highly qualified and professional staff and Trustees, and strong support from the community, which helps us to deliver and achieve outcomes for our local youth.
The Trust programmes have been strategically developed to work in synergy with each other and our employer partners and we have access to opportunities to grow and develop our youth to the best we possibly can.
The IBA programme provides services to its participants that go beyond what other pre-employment programmes provide. The post pastoral support (PPS) component, once participants are in work experience or part- or full-time employment, provides follow up with employers and employees for a period of up to six months to a year if need be.
The identification of work ‘champions’, and the monitoring and provision of ongoing organisational advice to each individual ensures that each individual is more likely to succeed.
When you first started the Trust, what is the one thing you wish people told you?
Working with troubled youth is complex and requires a more individualised approach than might initially have been assumed.
In your first year of the organisation, what challenges did you face and how did you overcome them?
Funding surety (for TBA, gym development, equipment and support resources; for IBA, getting contract agreement)
- Addressed these by an ongoing programme of seeking grants
- Making sure that we fulfilled the BoPYDT programmes’ intentions by ensuring feedback on each programme delivery reflected high levels of achievement
Appropriate broad range policy development and implementation (particularly in a health and safety-conscious environment) – meeting the demands of government organisations
- Ensuring policies were well constructed and integrated into practice
Getting a better handle on the needs of participants and how to meet them
- By being sure of the core values and details of the programme that are most effective in creating change.
And now, looking back, what have been your biggest learnings?
- How important it is to establish positive relationships with a broad range of government and industry organisation representatives.
- How important it is to take a ‘joined up’ approach with other organisations providing service delivery to at-risk youth – knowing where and how we can all work together to be most effective in the transition to employment space.
What’s the one misconception people might have about your industry?
Misconception: That teaching employability skills should be all that is needed to support youth into employment.
Truth: Previous negative life, or work experiences or a lack of support from families often mean, getting ready for employment, also requires education and support to learn life skills, practical tools, routines, wellbeing and physical/mental discipline. Many young people lack the connections and tools to understand how to find employment and training opportunities.
Misconception: That at-risk youth do not make good employees.
Truth: Youth work well in employment that suits their capabilities and skills with the support of an employer that includes a positive work environment. From here they may thrive and become loyal, dedicated employees.
What’s the one thing you want people to know about your business?
That supporting youth has a positive flow-on impact on the community.
What are your goals (personal and professional) for the next six to 12 months?
- Increase employment and industry training opportunities for youth.
- To increase our network of employers willing to help and support youth into meaningful employment.
- Complete fit-out of our new larger premises (Youth Central) in 13th Avenue, Tauranga.
- Develop the Ki Tai programme.
- Grow the numbers of youth in our programmes
If you could impart one piece of advice to fellow business owners, what would it be?
Be patient.
The Trust welcomes the opportunity to work with local businesses to help them fill their skill gaps, while helping youth find a pathway to sustainable meaningful employment. You can contact Mark on mark@iba.org.nz
New members can find it hard meeting people at events, so we want to take some of the pressure off that awkward small talk by shining a light on your business through our member profiles.
Our member profiles are a great way to give the business community a taste of who you are and what you do, so when they see your face at one of our events they won’t hesitate to make that all-important introduction.
If you’re a new member and would like a profile, get in touch with our marketing team today.
