Foundation for Youth Development Excellence Awards

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Rau rangatira mā, e kui mā, e koro mā; tēnei aku mihi māhana ki a koutou.  Te manuhiri tuārangi nau mai haere mai.  Na reira e te iwi, kia ora tātou katoa.

Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, warm greetings to you all.  A special welcome to our overseas visitors. 

I want to specifically acknowledge: Hon Paula Bennett, Minister of Social Development; Graeme Dingle and Jo-anne Wilkinson, co-founders of the Foundation for Youth Development, Dean Ellwood and Marion Short, Chair and chief executive respectively; Hon Dame Catherine Tizard; and Sarah Hillary - tēnā koutou katoa. 

It’s with much satisfaction that Janine and I welcome you all to Government House for this year’s Foundation for Youth Development Excellence Awards.  It is one of the significant highpoints I have as Patron of the Foundation for Youth Development.

In many ways our being here tonight is because of a decision or decisions we have taken.  In my case, it’s because at the start of every Governor-General’s term a review of vice-regal patronages is conducted to assure the right fit.  Retaining the vice-regal connection is not a given, for the organisation or the vice-regal personage! 

One organisation that I had little difficulty in deciding to continue to support was the Foundation for Youth Development.  I’m pleased that the Foundation reciprocated my sentiment!

I’m not sure what the Foundation’s views were, but for my part I was relaxed about being patron because the Foundation’s work is important in protecting and nurturing New Zealand’s most prized, and yet at times its most vulnerable taonga, our young people.

The Foundation’s alignment with an old African proverb that says: “It takes a village to raise a child” harmonises for me.  It’s a common sense statement, and yet the fundamental truth that lies at its heart is a powerful sentiment. 

What I like about the Foundation, it’s work and programmes, is the way it puts community development - the village - at the heart of helping young people.  Adopting an overarching approach that seeks to improve their health, education and wellbeing in the context of their family is bound to create positive personal and community change.

I endorse giving young people “an experience” reference point, especially one outside of their comfort zone, to build confidence and resilience.  Add mentoring, and they are bound to learn self-reliance, self-confidence and self-motivation.  These are traits that will serve them well for all of their life.

Tonight, we recognise those things in the young people and excellence in the various FYD programmes.  Since the Foundation’s flagship programme, Project K began in 1995, new programmes have been added, and now they involve 18,000 young people every year. 

Reaching out to young New Zealanders through the schools-based Kiwi Can, Stars and Project K and MYND, which works with young people who have come to the attention of Police and Child Youth and Family services is a superb accomplishment.  Most gratifying, however, are some of the comments from participants in the Foundation’s programmes, included in the Annual Report.  Comments such as “Kiwi Can taught me to use my mind, not my fists” and “Three years ago, the only lines I wrote were in detention - now I’m writing lines for a newspaper” show the value of this work.  

It’s a fantastic record of service and I thank everyone involved in delivering the programmes - the many hundreds of volunteer and the paid staff of the Foundation and its many accredited providers. 

From the many thousands who have participated in the Foundation’s programmes, today’s awards celebrate the life-changing accomplishments of a small group of exceptional young people, mentors and leaders.  

They recognise courage: the courage it takes to turn a life around.  They recognise commitment: commitment to a task that is beyond the here-and-now, and seemingly beyond oneself.  I look forward to hearing stories of the success of young New Zealanders as the ceremony progresses.

Given the final award to be presented tonight is named after Sir Edmund Hillary—a foundation trustee of FYD—it seems appropriate to close my remarks with a quote that summarises the qualities tonight’s award recipients epitomise.  He once said:
“If the going is tough and the pressure is on; if reserves of strength have been drained and the summit is still not in sight, then the quality to see in a person is neither great strength nor quickness of hand, but rather a resolute mind firmly set on its purpose that refuses to let its body slacken or rest.”

And on that note let me offer my congratulations again and welcome you again to Government House.   Kia ora huihui tātou katoa.