Nu'u means village. We walk alongside young people through school, friendship and real conversations, launching them into their future one relationship at a time.
Growing up is hard, and too many rangatahi do it without a steady adult who really knows them. The young people we journey alongside often feel disconnected, misunderstood, and like they don't fit anywhere.
Everyone should get a village: people who know their name, back their potential, and stick around to make it count.
We show up, and we walk alongside. In schools, in groups, on the field and in the everyday ups and downs of life. We speak identity and help build them into the person they are meant to be.
Youth Nu'u is a relational mentoring ecosystem. We are a Nu'u, a village. This is not a programme our young people pass through, but a community that surrounds them. From the classroom, to the pitch, to 1-on-1 sessions, we give rangatahi positive role models, guidance and real friendship that feels natural and easy to be a part of.
Group mentoring inside local schools, boys, girls or mixed. We come in and become a familiar, trusted face, including for the young people right on the edge of being pushed out.
Boys' and girls' groups for Years 9 to 13, and rangatahi who aren't in school too. A place to belong away from the pressure, with your people.
When a young person needs someone in their corner just for them, we match them with the right mentor and show up consistently, week after week.
Our Mentoring Sports Academy uses rugby league as the vehicle. Sport is the drawcard; the real mahi is the character we build off the field.
Music, dance, & creativity. Sometimes a young person finds their voice through art, not a conversation. We give them an outlet, and provide the resources needed to make this happen.
One-off collaborations and community events that widen a young person's world, including our mahi with Police Bluelight and other local organisations.
A session has a rhythm the young people can count on. It's the same shape every time, so that walking in stops feeling scary and starts feeling like home.
We start together and set the tone for the day.
Everyone shares how they're sitting, a number from one to ten, high or low, so no one feels alone.
Games, sport and team-building to lift the spirit and get everyone on the same waka.
Often our life stories, walking from darkness to light, and naming the barriers that hold us back.
We reach for the strengths, compassion and love each young person carries, and bring them to the surface.
A last round of what we're taking away. And often a bit of a cry, because that's allowed here too.
Potential is everywhere, but opportunity isn't. When a young person knows they belong, everything else becomes possible.
A lot of our young people are still looking for their belonging, still trying to understand the belief within themselves, and have no idea sometimes who they're becoming. This is how we walk it with them.
A place where you're known and wanted, where you actually fit. It's the foundation everything else is built on.
The belief that you matter and that you're capable, grown from someone consistently, patiently in your corner.
Real pathways in leadership, sport, creativity and life, plus the belief that you can actually walk them.
“When they feel supported and they feel loved, you see the light in their eyes come back. You can hear the mana that they already have inside of them.”
Juan, Mentor · Youth Nu'u
See what our past rangatahi and whānau have to say.
I myself was in a pretty hard place when we came to Davis, and my son was not in a good place either. Since then, my son has gained so much confidence, so much self-assurance of who he is. He's just a different kid, completely turned around.
It's just a place where you can feel heard. Anything you say is in that space and stays in that space, without any judgment or fear of what you're about to say.
It is a very big leap of faith to take. But if you do make the decision to step through those doors, I think it would be something that you would not regret.
You don't have to have it all sorted. Just come as you are.
Whether you're a young person looking for your people, a parent hoping someone will show up for your kid, or someone who wants to back the mahi, there's a place for you here.
