MEDIA RELEASE
April 18, 2025
The voices of young people are being heard loud and clear in Tauranga through the Youth Voices Action panel – and they’ll be celebrated at next month’s Youth Fest in the city.
Rebecca Kit is the Programmes and Partnership manager, and she’s been actively involved in helping young people get heard for several years. Youth Voices Action previously operated under the Tauranga Youth Development Team, and is designed to give a voice to young people who may feel they don’t fit in but have plenty of ideas to share.
We stand up for young people so their voices are heard—on big issues and personal struggles. Every young person deserves to be seen, heard, and valued. We make space for them to speak up, shape decisions and lead change.
There are nine young people on the panel, and Rebecca says they took time and had to be quite creative to ensure there was a really diverse group selected. They approached different organisations, attended open days at Toi Ohomai and other events where people could nominate themselves or someone else to form the panel, which was launched last year.
They host regular meetings, and Rebecca says the content changes all the time.
“It’s youth led, so whatever happens is led by the panel members – an ‘agenda’ can quite quickly get derailed by whatever the members think is important. They create content, talk about the challenges they’re facing and troubleshoot a wide variety of issues.”
Recently these have included wait times for young victims of crime to get justice, and conversations are being had to facilitate and faster resolution. They’re also interested in coercion in relationships, where young people are finding it’s very hard to get a conviction for being coerced.
Right now they’re planning their next big event – Youth Fest, to be held on the Tauranga waterfront on Saturday, May 24, at the end of Youth Week. A pilot was held last year with a small amount of funding, and this year they’re excited to see what they have achieved grow into a spectacular event for youth.
“It’s entirely youth led, so it’s what they want and they can express their opinions.”
She says the lineup of entertainers submitted is “eclectic”, and there’ll be food trucks, plenty of organisations involved and an opportunity for young people to learn about the services, hobbies and sports available to them, catering for everyone.
Rebecca got involved by volunteering to photograph Flurofest three years ago, but that quickly turned into doing something more, and she moved into the Programmes and Partnership role.
”I love to talk to people from all walks of life. I love hearing people’s stories and people seem to open up to me. I’m passionate about this, and have a rapport with young people.”
She’s lived overseas in England and Thailand, teaching English and working in a primary school. She brings a sense of order to the group as she’s very organised.
“I enjoy working with young people and it gives me energy – the days go so quickly because they have such a spark and their perspective is so refreshing.”
She’s keen to hear from any organisations which would like to be involved in Youth Fest.
“Let’s have those conversations.”
