Rangatahi in Aotearoa need spaces where they are recognised and supported to be
themselves. Through our programmes, we strengthen identity, build confidence, and support rangatahi to lead in ways that reflect who they are. Rangatahi build skills and reconnect with learning in ways that work for them. Our spaces are intentional, consistent and grounded in trust. Our environments are not accidental. They are built with intention, consistency, and care.
What We Do
Our Model
Our delivery model is grounded in Creative Youth Development (CYD), a practice that bridges youth development with arts education. CYD is a holistic practice that combines hands-on artmaking and skill building in the arts with development of life skills to support young people in successfully participating in adolescence and navigating into adulthood (Montgomery, 2016). What distinguishes our approach to delivering a CYD framework is that we localise it by integrating it deeply with kaupapa Māori values and ways of working. This creates a culturally grounded approach that affirms rangatahi Māori and ensures their cultural safety.
Our Values
Mauri Tau – Calm, grounded, intentional
Kia Manawanui – Stay steady, hold the line
Aroha in Action – Care, honesty, accountability
Creative Confidence – Express, create, lead
Whakapapa of Connection – Know where you come from, build strong relationships
To Be – You are enough as you are
“I was able to speak up my ideas and go up to people and talk with people. My older self wouldn’t be able to go up to people and I’m more expressive. I learnt to be patient with other people when thinking up new ideas and collaborating” - Returning rangatahi, 2025
Our programmes
Raumati Wānanga Series
Our raumati summer wānanga series brings our rangatahi together in January to prepare them for the year ahead both practically and mentally. They experience creative activities like songwriting, storytelling, dance, theatre games and mau rākau. These creative workshops run alongside sessions in practical life skills such as CPR and water safety.
Through the experience of Raumati, rangatahi gain grounding in community before the year kicks off, are equipped with new skills and benefit from the emotionally and spiritually invigorating outcomes of the creative workshops.
Noho wānanga
Wānanga give us the opportunity as a collective to get away from the confinements of the city and head to either bush or water, to help us unlock and connect with those creative elements faster. It’s done over a series of consecutive days, where we eat, breathe, and sleep creativity. From this place we are able to form deeper connections to the self and each other…and THEN we create!
These wānanga form the solid platform for our rangatahi to find their voice, their language, and redefine themselves in a safe space before stepping back into their worlds. Wānanga is a very special time of creating, making and connection. It is something we all understand and we respect the gift that it gives us.
Matariki Exhibition
This programme consists of a series of creative workshops and wānanga that slowly
journey our rangatahi toward the presentation of a multi-media exhibition at Studio One Toi Tū. It invites deeper engagement and solicits learning around mātauranga Māori pertaining to Matariki.
We turn to creative mediums that promote hands-on learning and encourage reflection, slowing down and self-regulation. This often includes the making of taonga puoro instruments, zine-making, collage, printmaking, textile art, street art, photography and sculpture. Also during this phase, our pou tikanga introduce rangatahi to a concept or whakatauki that they explore through this process and through all remaining activities for the year. This idea anchors them as a community, drives their creative pathway and opens the door to deeper layers of mātauranga Māori.
Manawa Ora
This is our busiest part of our programme, and is focused towards the development and presentation of our flagship theatre show Manawa Ora. Through workshops and wānanga facilitated by some of Aotearoa’s most celebrated performing artists, our rangatahi are guided through the practice of devised storytelling, drawing on their own whakaaro and life experiences.
The process involves lots of slow and intentional scaffolding through the various components of theatre-making, always moving at a pace that our rangatahi are comfortable with. We have been delivering this show for 12 years, starting off at the Herald Theatre, moving to Basement Theatre and now residing at Q Theatre. Many phenomenal creatives have guided our rangatahi through Manawa Ora, which has created a rich legacy for our future rangatahi to be part of.
Emplyoment Pathways
Through our work with partner organisations such as longstanding collaborator Allpress Espresso, we upskill rangatahi for appropriate workplaces and support them to find employment. All of our programmes contribute to the development of their leadership skills, and help to build the confidence and self-belief that is needed when entering the workforce.