16
Don your t
pink shir
on Friday
17 May
Youth Centre
to Provide Hub for Kids of
Marlborough
BY KAT DUGGAN
Pink Shirt Day won’t be the only coming together of kids in Marlborough this May.
The interna� onal an� -bullying ini� a� ve falls
on May 17, just over a week before the grand
opening of Marlborough’s new Youth Centre
on May 25. soundproof music room, a dance studio, a
rock climbing wall, and a ‘messy’ concrete
space suitable for tasks like pain� ng or
po� ery.
Spearheaded by the Marlborough Youth
Trust, the centre will spark a new beginning
for young people living in the region. The trust has been careful not to fully deck
out the facility too soon, wary of keeping up
with changing trends and demands from the
region’s youth.
Trust manager Jo Lane says the space will
provide a safe place for young people to
hang out, as well as providing mee� ng rooms
and spaces for youth educa� on, health and
employment ini� a� ves.
Finishing touches are being made by some
of the youth of Marlborough ahead of the
offi cial opening, which falls on the second-to-
last day of New Zealand Youth Week.
The term ‘youth’ incorporates young people
aged between 12 and 24, for whom the new
centre will become a hub.
“During youth week, youth can sign up for
photography, wearable arts and spoken
word [workshops] that are running at the
Marlborough Youth Trust and their work will
be on display with the grand opening,” Jo
says.
The formal-dress opening will run from 6pm
un� l 9pm and will also include dance and
singing performances, a� er which a Silent
Rave will be held for those aged 15 and over.
The trust recognised the space as being ideal
for the centre, being handy to town and
with plenty of space to con� nue to grow and
create purpose-built areas for youth.
“Initi ally it was going to be in the 2025 plans
with the council and the council has been very
generous, and the rate payers,” Jo says.
Once completed, the centre
will be home to a cafe, a kitchen, a
“It’s not going to be perfect on the fi rst day,
it’s going to evolve … we’ve learnt from others
not to go and buy equipment, we don’t want
it to stagnate so we’re taking advice on things
like music and technology,” Jo says.
“It’s a youth space so as it evolves over the
years they will be able to have what they
want in it.”
Sugges� ons have included a large screen to
enable youth to watch televised spor� ng
events, while a large wall is being kept blank
to allow Marlborough youth to get crea� ve
with a mural in months
to come.
Youth have also expressed interest in crea� ng
their own furniture for the space, envisioning
long tables
to allow for communal dining at
the centre.
The youth trust will move into
the premises from their current space on
Arthur St, while there
is the poten� al for other Marlborough
businesses to
lease some of the space.
It will house permanent mee� ng rooms
suitable for use as counselling and family
group conference spaces, as well as a
boardroom for mee� ngs, workshops and
seminars.
“We’ve got a couple of trustees in the police
and they suggested that it could be an
opportunity for the Ministry of Justi ce, or for
family group conferences or a scenario where
a careers person could come in one night a
week, or mental health [resources],” Jo says.
“It’s having those opti ons there for young
people, they could be coming to get a hot
chocolate in the cafe or they could be coming
to have a chat with [those services], so many
things would be going on that people are not
necessarily going to know what you are in
there for.”
One of the main aims for the centre is to
provide a hub for the numerous youth
ini� a� ves already opera� ng in the region,
including MYTAG - Marlborough Youth Trust
Advisory Group, the Youth Employability
Programme, Youth in Emergency Services,
Cactus Leadership Programme for Youth,
Young Parent Group, the Youth Council, and
the Peer Support Programme.