Invitation to join Youth Advisory Group

Applications open to be part of new rangatahi hauora project
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Found in: News / News
Date: 26 May 2024

**APPLICATIONS HAVE NOW CLOSED. THANK YOU FOR YOUR INTEREST.**

Young people tell us mental health is the biggest issue facing their generation.  

We want to hear more.  

Are you aged 14-19 and passionate about making mental health a priority?  

The Mental Health Foundation of New Zealand (MHF) is creating a hauora/wellbeing project that will empower youth voices around mental health. 

We’re seeking applications to join the Youth Advisory Group ensuring rangatahi (youth) voice is front and centre.

Mental Health Foundation

What’s the aim? 
This new hauora project for rangatahi grew from an understanding that far too many young people find it hard to navigate life’s ups and downs, and for many, their bravery in reaching out for help is often met with long wait times to access support.   

The Mental Health Foundation believes in our young people, and we want to help lift their wellbeing, by providing the resources to support a youth-led social action movement around mental health.

We’ll do this by:  

  • Empowering young people to lead the conversation about mental health in adolescence and drive social change within their schools and their communities.
  • Providing young people with the skills, confidence and connection to create positive change in the world around them.  
  • Providing schools and youth-based organisations with the resources to enable them to support students in this process and develop tools and resources to strengthen mental health outcomes for our rangatahi. 

What’s a Youth Advisory Group?  

We know that to have the best outcomes for young people, young people need to be involved in crafting the solutions that will work for them. That’s where the Youth Advisory Group comes in.
You’ll work alongside the Mental Health Foundation team to help bring the project to life.  

The group will include 12 members, aged 14-19 years old from diverse backgrounds and locations around Aotearoa.   

How do I know if I’m right for this?  

We’re after a wide range of voices, backgrounds, ages and experiences. This isn’t exclusive to those who are high achievers or have the best grades, after all, we all have mental health, so we all have our own experiences of what can impact our mental health and wellbeing – good or bad.   

We’ll make sure we have representation across genders, ethnic and cultural backgrounds, including Māori and Pasifika, and well as those from rainbow communities, disability and neuro-divergent communities, and a mix of people who live rurally and in cities. 

We particularly value the experience of tāngata whai ora, or those who have their own experience of mental distress or illness.   

Basically, if you’re aged 14-19 and are passionate about promoting good mental health and wellbeing for rangatahi, we’d love to hear from you.    

The only pre-requisite is to be an approachable and effective communicator, although support can be provided to enable full participation for those with a disability or neuro-divergence.  

What’s the commitment?  

You’ll need to be involved in an online meeting every month.  

We know how important whanaungatanga is, so we’ll be bringing the Youth Advisory Group members to Auckland for a full day in-person hui during the first week of the July school holidays (travel costs will be covered by MHF) to get to know each other, the MHF team and understand more about the project.  

Later in the year, the Youth Advisory Group will lead a Youth Voice Hui – to engage rangatahi around the country in how to lead a social action movement around mental health in their own community.  

This is a volunteer position; however, we’ll recognise your valuable input and time in the form of a koha.  

If the Youth Advisory Group role has you excited and feels like a good fit for you, or a young person you know, please apply now.  

You can upload or share a link to a video, write a cover letter, or attach a CV - do what works for you. We want to get to know you, and why you want to be part of this kaupapa.