Partners Porirua News

Denys Latham knows a thing or two about driving – hardly surprising with 15 years under his belt as a community driver mentor on the Drive 4 Life programme at Partners Porirua.

Enthusiastic, motivated, mature and high achieving are some of the ways to sum up Titahi Bay raised Oriwia Kingi. Words she never thought belonged to her as a young teenager struggling through school, getting into regular fights, dropping out and battling mental health issues.

“As a community we have the power to believe in our young people so they can believe in themselves” … and with those words the theme was set for a fabulous evening of celebration at the Porirua Young Employee Awards 2025.

The Porirua Youth 2 Work Movement (Y2W) recently celebrated 10 years of operation – a fact recognised as part of the Porirua Young Employee Awards celebrations.

At Partners Porirua we believe in the power of looking back to move forward. The life-changing impact we’ve had on Porirua rangatahi has been shaped by our commitment to our core values. These guide us every step of the way.

A warm Pacific welcome and a rousing haka bookended a special celebration of rangatahi at the inaugural Tupu Rangatahi Awards held in early December.

In tough job-hunting times, it’s all about managing expectations and looking for work in all the right places, that’s the advice from Josiah Foua our Youth Employment Service Facilitator.

We extend our heartfelt gratitude to Te Runanga o Toa Rangatira and Kaumatua Taku Parai for their generous koha of our Mauri Stone. Special thanks to Hohepa Potini and Callum Katene for the blessing.

“Work hard – it doesn’t matter where you land – just work hard.” These are the words of wisdom passed down from Leonardo Coghini, former two-time recipient of the Porirua Youth Awards, to the Award winners of 2024.

Learning to drive, fine-tuning your digital skills and navigating life in Aotearoa is easier than ever with the help of some clever resources developed by NZTA – Waka Kotahi, Ministry of Social Development and Citizens Advice Bureau.

A fully packed NZ Police recruitment information seminar at Partners Porirua gave young people the chance to get a better understanding on what it’s like to be a Police recruit and to quiz officers on their different career paths.

Partners Porirua has teamed up with Police, Piri’anga Alofa Pacific and Community Services to provide community navigators to help keep young people safe during peak times at the Porirua City Railway Station.

Job interviews can be one of the scariest parts of obtaining a first-time job for school leavers. Plimmerton Rotary just made this a whole lot easier for Year 12 &13 students at Aotea College as they prepare for the working world.

Sharpening up what we’re doing and taking the Drive 4 Life programme to the next level were key take-aways from the Driving Change conference held in Christchurch during June.

From Jam Sesh to Sports Sesh – local rangatahi again embraced local youth week activities hosted by Partners Porirua during May 2024 leaving parents really happy.

A job interview and a winning prize draw were just two of the highlights for Partners Porirua clients attending the Porirua Careers Expo 2024 held in May.

We’re really excited to have a couple of our talented young people involved in the Porirua City Council’s Mahi Rangatahi programme, providing real-world work experience for young people in Porirua.

Congratulations to Amelia Maguire, Porirua’s own talented recipient of the 2023 Porirua Youth Award in the Art and Culture category!

Job vacancies from 12 local employers were on offer at this year’s JOBfest, held on Wednesday 6 September at the Bishop Viard hall.

Four lucky students from Aotea College enjoyed having their own personal financial literacy and employment education workshop with Rachel Compton, Branch Manager of Westpac Bank, Upper Hutt.

On a wet and cold day filled with hail, an enthusiastic group of Youth Service clients and students from Mana College visited the Bidfood Porirua site to meet staff and learn about what they do.

Safe spaces for young people to mix and more multi-school events for collaboration and celebration are what the young future leaders of Porirua would change if they were in charge.

The Porirua Youth 2 Work Movement ended 2022 with a bang; celebrating the achievements of the year and more employment opportunities for young people

For 22 years Partners Porirua has been inspiring local rangatahi to get the most out of life.

Downer has teamed up with Partners Porirua to run Gateway partnerships with local colleges and is keen to attract more women to the infrastructure industry.

Wellington Water is changing the lives of youth with its infrastructure skills course while showing its support for young women in construction.

Partners Porirua recently ran a “Women in Construction Expo” to inspire young wahine, college students and female job seekers to go into a career in construction.