By Nicola Sutton, CE, English Language Partners
‘Necessity is the mother of invention’, said Plato and we have found this to be true. English Language Partners' (ELP) work is teaching English to adults and until March 25th this work was done in face-to-face classes. All across New Zealand, learners gathered with the purpose of improving their language skills so they could participate more effectively in daily life and settle well in New Zealand.

By Hayden Maskell, Marketing and Communication Manager, REAP Wairarapa
REAPs across the country are deeply connected with their communities, and the Covid-19 lockdown presented a significant challenge. With rural communities especially affected by the isolation, the 13 REAPs managed to quickly find inspiration and innovation.

For many people, the most significant challenge was in having children home. All 13 REAPs actively sought ways to help parents in their time of need, by connecting schools, educators, parents and children with useful resources and activities.

During the lockdown close to 1000 young people currently enrolled in the Youth Employability Programme (YEP) were able to access a range of online resources to continue building their skills, including a series of short videos by ‘That YEP Guy’.

YEP was established by COMET Auckland five years ago and now operates in 12 regions/areas around the country. It is designed to make it possible for all 14-24 year olds to gain the insight, confidence and skills to get work, keep work and create careers.

Kelly Francis (Ngapuhi), who started Whenua Warriors in South Auckland in 2017, now has a long-term plan that will build resilience and sustainability into our food supply.

When we wrote about Whenua Warriors in 2018 they had already established over 280 gardens in people’s backyards, papakāinga, schools, kohanga, marae, emergency houses, women’s refuges and community spaces.

The Rotorua Community Youth Centre is a youth-one-stop-shop providing development workshops, support for transitioning into employment and health services specifically for young people. Their strap line is ‘Enabling youth to reach their full potential by helping them to be happy, healthy, safe, and moving towards a great future’.

Prior to the lockdown the centre was running over 15 workshops for Rotorua youth – and they had just launched a by-youth-for-youth community radio station, Power 88.3 Rotorua.