Support Us

Youth Alive Trust is a non-profit organisation that relies on our supporters and the community to survive. Without either, we would not be able to continue our work with the young people of the eastern suburbs of Christchurch. We would greatly appreciate and be thankful for your support.

Friends of Youth Alive Trust

Friends of Youth Alive Trust

A charity like ours needs good infrastructure, resources and staff to be effective, and that comes at a cost. If you want to support the continuing work of Youth Alive Trust, and the impact it is having on young people and families in our community, we’re asking you to consider becoming a regular donor. With your support we’re able to plan for the future and be less reliant on the lottery of Funders.

Friends of Youth Alive Trust is encouraging donors to give a regular amount, ideally via an automatic payment, such as $5 a week, the cost of one cup of coffee. Many people will be able to give more, and we’re hoping that this scheme will raise enough funds to support more programmes, more youthworkers and help bring more positive change to young lives!

Find out more and how to get involved by viewing this Friends of YAT PDF Brochure or picking one up from our office.

Bequests

Bequests

Download Bequest Letter

A bequest is a gift given after life to assist a charity. It enables you to help in a way that perhaps you were not able to do during your lifetime. It is a gift that lives on, helping others, long after we have gone.

You can give a specific bequest which is a gift of a certain sum, a specific asset, or all, or part, of an insurance policy. Also you can give a general bequest. That is a specified percentage or share of your Estate. As little as 1% of your residual estate can make a huge difference to a charity.

Leaving a bequest to Youth Alive Trust means that you are giving a precious gift to the children & young people from the eastern suburbs of Christchurch, helping to ensure a better future for the many children we serve long into the future.

Speak to your lawyer about how to include Youth Alive Trust in your will.

If creating your own will, the following standard wording may be useful:

I give and bequeath to Youth Alive Trust (specify gift)……..……………..………..… free of all charges and to be used where most needed. The official receipt from Youth Alive Trust will be sufficient acknowledgment of having received this gift.

Dear Billionaire

Dear Billionaire

We realise that different people have been blessed with different talents.  Some are Einstein smart, some are Brad Thorn tough, some are Houdini skillful, and some are Mother Teresa kind.  Our volunteers and staff are all of the above and more, but we’re missing Bill Gates rich!

We can run programmes on a shoe string budget and we often do. Playing sport is free, art can be run at minimal cost and there are lots of free places to visit. We charge minimal or no cost for all of our programmes. We rely predominately on the support of grants, donations and contracts to keep us going.  Volunteers can very effectively run our programmes but it’s difficult be sustainable and grow without proper planning, preparation, resources, equipment and management, all of which incur costs.

All of our grants and contracts are allocated to something specific, e.g. $20,000 towards youth worker wages, $10,000 towards club costs, or $3,000 towards new PCs.  Donations are our only source of discretionary funds and we receive around $40,000 a year in regular donations. These are usually swallowed by other areas of our budget that we struggle to raise funds for such as administration costs, vehicle overheads or trainee wages.

Applying for grants is part of being a community charity and we’re very thankful to those who support us. We provide evidence of the work we’re doing and continually submit funding applications – some of which are successful, some of which aren’t. Sadly, the more time we spend filling out applications, the less time we spend doing youthwork. The more successful our youthwork, the more funds are needed to keep up with the growth yet the overall pot of grants is not getting any bigger, which is why we’re looking for Bill!

Reserves = None

We just about break even every year!  Everything we get in, we spend.  We’re not able to save for a rainy day, as most of the money we receive has to be spent and accounted for. We can’t charge the young people the ‘real’ cost of running our programmes – it would be unaffordable. We’ve managed like this for many years, but we’re not comfortable, and we’d love to have a healthy Balance Sheet.  Maybe Mr/Mrs Billionaire would buy us a commercial building or Auckland Car Park which fed all their profits back us to pay for all our programmes!?

Self Sustaining = Ideas Needed

Charities are always being told we need to be more self sustaining – which is a bit of an oxymoron. They’re usually set up to support those in need – and those in need can’t usually pay. Therefore outside support is needed, whether that be grants, contracts, donations, fundraising, sponsorship or even a Social Enterprise. We’re use all these areas – but are just dipping our toes into the Social Enterprise scene. This is setting up of a business that meets a social need and/or makes a profit that is fed back into the charity. We’re very open to a Social Enterprise – we think it will help our long term sustainability and improve our balance sheet. But we need help – we need ideas, we need business know-how and we need personnel to make it happen. We have already started a few ideas, including a collaborative with other charities, but we need some man power and knowledge to dedicate more time to it. Maybe Mr/Mrs Billionaire would buy us a business which fed all their profits into us?

In search of the Billionaire…

We don’t personally know any billionaires. In fact, we don’t know many rich people at all. However, we know that some of our friends, supporters, community leaders and even young people will know people in the millionaires club. Would you be willing to talk about us to them? Would you send them a link to this site or send them our latest newsletter? People with money want to be generous and help those in need – they often just don’t know where to put their resources where it will make the most difference.

Volunteer

Volunteer

Most of our programmes are only able to operate because of of Volunteer support!  People willing to give of their time and energy to feed into the lives of local young people. We are often in need of more volunteers to help on programmes or events – maybe you could help? There is a commitment and there are some boundaries you must abide by, but most volunteers find that they are more blessed by the clubs than the young people are!  Some of our volunteers used to be part of the programmes themselves, so they know exactly what is expected of a leader.

All leaders must also complete a Police Check and be approved by the Trust Manager.

Volunteers are provided with Training throughout the year and work in teams that provide support to each other. They’re also given lots of encouragement, food at leaders meetings, socials and an end of year celebratory meal! Volunteering can be one of the most worthwhile experiences you can have and will leave you with memories that last a life time. Check out our Volunteers Flyer for more info or email: volunteer@yat.org.nz

Trainee Youth Workers

Trainee Youth Workers

LOOKING NOW FOR 2026 TRAINEES!!!!

Wanting a change in 2026? Feeling the call to be a youth worker? Need the theoretical training alongside the practical experience to develop your career? Youth Alive Trust is giving the opportunity for 1 or 2 young adults to join our team of youth workers in 2026, to achieve a qualification and gain real experience at the same time. With trustee approval, we even offer a part scholarship to help pay for your fees, upon completion of your course! We partner with two main providers:

1.Laidlaw College – Certificate in Community Youth Work (CertCYW).

This NEW Level 5 qualification is only based in Christchurch next year as it launches, and integrates youth work practice with a grounding in Christian theology and bicultural competence. Students are prepared to engage with taiohi in ways that uphold mana, reflect Christian character and respond to the diverse cultural contexts of Aotearoa New Zealand. Students will explore youth development with young people, bicultural relationships, spiritual formation and community engagement. Learning is applied in youth work contexts through 300hrs of supervised practicum experience.

Read more about Laidlaw’s Level 5 Certificate in Youth Work HERE

2. Vineyard Ministry School – Certificate in Ministry

This is a partnership with Laidlaw College and Vineyard College. This Level 4 qualification offers theological study, each Wednesday at the Grace Vineyard City Campus, plus 4 block courses in the year, each one is 3 – 5 days. Each student then completes around 15 practical ministry hours per week in your chosen area, such as Youth Alive Trust, ensuring that students are not only rooted in sound theology but also equipped with the hands-on skills necessary for effective mahi.

Read more about Vineyard Ministry School HERE

 

At Youth Alive Trust, we offer students:

  • A line manager, who can support, advise, and guide your youth work practice
  • Support to find an external mentor/supervisor.
  • Opportunities to work with their preferred ages, including Primary age, Intermediates and Teenagers.
  • Opportunities to help lead at weekly clubs, events, outings and trainings.
  • Be a part of our wider team of youth workers and support workers, including staff meetings, retreats and socials.
  • Opportunities for paid work on holiday programmes during school holidays.
  • A supportive Christian environment were the team prays and worships together.

If you’d like to talk in person more about these opportunities, email:hr@yat.org.nz

Placement Opportunities

We often host University and Ara students who need to do community placements as part of their course. This often involves helping with clubs, holiday activities, and sometimes with Mana Ake or in school with youth workers. We could also be interested in opportunities to support us with Marketing or Media or another project that would help both you and us serve the community! Contact us to discuss: volunteer@yat.org.nz

Funders

Funders

 Our income comes from six key areas:

  • Grants (eg: Rata Foundation)
  • Contracts (eg: Mana Ake)
  • Fees (eg: $20 per term)
  • Individual Donors (eg: Friends of Youth Alive Trust)
  • Fundraising (eg: Candy Floss & Kites Sales)
  • Sponsorship from Businesses

(We would like to add a 7th income stream from a Social Enterprise – but need ideas, resources and expertise to make it happen – maybe your business skills could help us??)

Without the generous and consistent support of donors and grant making bodies, the work of Youth Alive Trust would not be possible. We have a budget of around $1 million. See the Charities Commission Register to read our latest audited accounts.

Funding allows us to run our programmes at below the actual cost. Taking the barriers away from participation allows more young people to get involved and more programmes to be run.

Therefore we would like to say a massive special THANK YOU to all these grant making bodies who have recently financially support our work in a variety of ways,