Selwyn_Times: June 28, 2023

Wednesday June 28 2023 Selwyn Times
PHOTO: DANIEL ALVEY
• By Daniel Alvey
YOUNG PEOPLE have a safe
place to seek help after a new
youth hub was officially opened
at the weekend.
The Selwyn Integrated Youth
Hub inside the Rolleston Community
Centre
will be a “onestop
shop” for
the district’s
growing population
of young
people.
Targeted programmes
and
non-judgemental,
confidential
youth services from qualified
agencies will be available at the
hub for people aged 12 -24.
There will be a range of
mental and physical health
services, including medical and
consultation rooms, and family
planning advisers.
One of the providers is
Te Tahi Youth, which offers
medical, sexual and mental
health services. Te Tahi Youth
was founded in Christchurch in
1995 by Dame Sue Bagshaw and
was originally called 298 Youth
Health.
Te Tahi Youth school nurse
Donna Southorn said demand
for youth services in the district
has grown significantly.
“The health needs are
huge and a lot of people were
travelling into town to use our
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
Hub opens to help youth
Donna
Southorn
service,” Southorn said.
Te Tahi Youth has been
operating at Rolleston and
Ellesmere colleges and Lincoln
High School. Southorn said
the new clinic will reduce the
barriers stopping young people
from receiving help. The hub
received positive
feedback from
the district
council.
Said
Ellesmere
Ward district
councillor
Shane Ephia: Mackenzie
“One of the Wills
reasons I joined
council was four rangatahi
(youth) in Ellesmere took their
SERVICES: The Selwyn Integrated
Youth Hub was officially opened at
the Rolleston Community Centre.
life, and it was a motivating
factor for me to be a part of this
council.
“To see the korowai (cloak)
of well-being draped across the
district now is an incredible
feeling and one that warms my
heart.”
The Selwyn Youth Council
worked closely with the district
council and other organisations
to ensure the hub met the needs
of young people.
Said Selwyn Youth Council
co-chair Mackenzie Wills: “The
surveys were telling (us) that
a lot of youth in Selwyn were
finding it quite hard to travel
to get these services that are
essential, so it’s great to see them
out here now.
NEWS 7
Become
the mayor
• By Daniel Alvey
EVER WANTED to be mayor?
A new video game being
developed by the Selwyn Youth
Council will give young people
a chance to experience what it
would be like. The youth council
has revealed a demo of the Super
Mayor game it has been working
on with a developer.
Youth council co-chair
Mackenzie Wills said the game
aims to give young people a better
understanding of how the district
council operates, its processes and
the decisions it makes.
“With the help of a council, we
engaged a game designer to design
a game that starts to teach these
things in an interesting way that
makes sense for young people,”
Wills said.
“We are still designing but the
concept is more or less there.”
Players start the game as a
councillor and have to engage
with members of the public who
have an issue.
“These issues can range from
the playground hasn’t been fixed
(to) a burst water pipe.”
The players attend meetings,
weigh up costs and make
decisions with the “ultimate goal
to become mayor”. A release date
for the game has not been set.
• Local Government future,
page 10
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