Recognising Porirua’s young achievers at the 2025 Youth Awards

“Look around this is a beginning. Lots of possibilities lie ahead of you because you chose to show up for yourself. You are not just the leaders of tomorrow you are already leading today.” Partners Porirua Board member, Magele Maria Uluilelata

The 2025 Porirua Youth Awards celebrated 17 of the City’s top achievers. The annual awards run by Partners Porirua help young people who are excelling by celebrating their success and providing financial recognition.

There are five categories for the grants – Art and Culture, Education, Sport, STEM, Environmental or Community Work.

MC for the evening and Partners Communications and Projects Assistant, Ruby Sei, says the 2025 awards had a record 42 applicants making judging extremely difficult.

“These awards are all about celebrating the leaders of tomorrow and have been going for 15 years in collaboration with the Porirua Foundation, Porirua City Council and Partners Porirua.”

This year’s Excellence winners are:

• Junior Excellence – Gabriel Anthony
• Senior Excellence – Allan Wong, Sethini Goonewardene, Laie Nimarota, Sithum Goonewardene and Isaac Swallow.

You can view the full list of winners here

A stellar line up of speakers paid homage to all the recipients. Porirua Mayor Anita Baker said it was inspiring to read the citations and admired their ability to excel with the many competing demands they have on their time.

Former Silver Ferns captain, Ameliaranne Ekenasio, challenged them to work hard and never to underestimate the support of family in achieving goals. She reminded them of the importance of staying true to their values and that; “great things do not come without hard work or challenges”.

“There is not one singular path to success, you need to light that fire for yourself, do the hard work and create the path.”

Partners Porirua Board of Trustees member Magele Maria Uluilelata thanked the judges and gave a big shout-out to the parents and families of those receiving the awards. “To the families and supporters, we see you too. Behind every recipient there is a village supporting them.”

Long time Partners Porirua supporter and one of the Youth Awards sponsors, Chris Kirk-Burnnand spoke on behalf of him and his wife Helen, and the other sponsors Whittaker’s Chocolate NZ, Porirua City Council, and Bob and Sue Shennan who make the awards possible. He said the awards were a way of providing public recognition for the amazing achievements of these young people.