Hands-on Help for Youth Health Agency

New Plymouth District Council is about to lend some expertise to youth health agency Waves.

For three months, a Council staff member will work at Waves to help strengthen a variety of areas, from management and governance processes through to financial systems and sustainable funding.

“Waves does a lot of good work for a section of the community which is hard to reach, and seconding one of our staff members to provide expertise on the organisational side is a practical way for the Council to support the service,” says Manager Community Development Leighton Littlewood.

“Any improvements we can bring to the administration function will help ensure the long-term future of Waves.”

Community Development Adviser Craig Campbell-Smart will start at Waves on 30 January.

Waves Nurse Practitioner Lou Roebuck says by improving its organisational systems, Waves will gain more credibility among funders, stakeholders and clients.

“The Council’s Community Development Team has been providing us with support for the last five years, but having Craig here for three months will be tremendous,” she says.

“We’ve built this agency from the ground up, but keeping the services going while trying to sort out the management and governance requirements is burn-out material.

“This support is a catalyst to make sure that Waves is sustainable – and I don’t think we would be without that help.”

Through its Community Development function, the Council aims to identify needs in the community and help develop strategies and programmes to meet them.

“We do a lot of work strengthening existing community groups to help them work sustainably and efficiently, and access funding from a variety of agencies,” says Mr Littlewood

“We can see that Craig will be able to do some crucial work which will ultimately benefit a lot of young people in our district.”

This secondment is being funded through the Department of Internal Affairs’ Community Internship Programme.