Whanake Youth

23/04/2026

This is not easy, but after nine years Whanake Youth has needed to close. Our memories are of wonderful staff and young people we have journeyed with. We have loved the laughter, the rawness of life, the pride in seeing young people grow and the impact of the relationships we have made. Thank you to our staff; Jess, Maz, Bastian, Amy, Abbey, Chelsea, Annie, Ali, Chloe and recently Lo'an, Andrew and Luke. The impact you have made has been and is life changing! As we leave, we know that the gap of Whanake Youth ending is massive. We are working with Nelson City Council and others on what is next in our community to support awesome young people. The Stoke Youth Park page will be a place where information will be shared. So for now, know that young people matter, young people deserve the very best and for the young people we have journeyed with....continue to believe in your self and do life with no regrets.

Signing off... Lee-ann O'Brien (Boss, Nurse, youth worker and someone who's heart is heavy and has faith that our community will rise above adversity for our young people)

Whanake Youth closes in Nelson

02/04/2026

Can you believe Today is the last day of Term 1? Wow! What an epic term we’ve had with all of you.

The legends at .youth will be taking a break next week, so The Lounge will be closed next week. But don’t worry folks, because we’ll be back in the second week of the school holidays, opening as usual.

Happy Easter! And enjoy the break.

30/03/2026

THRIFT IN THE PARK!
Book this in over the school holidays!! Friday April 10th 10-4pm at Founders Park Nelson! Thanks Nelson Youth Council for organising a fab event!

29/03/2026

It’s the last week of the term, and we have some exciting stuff happening this week. Thursday will be an hour longer, so we can fit in an Easter egg hunt and a movie night. So if you’re keen to join in, feel free to bring any of your movie night essentials with you.

Watch this space for more details about what the movie is.

25/03/2026

SAVE THE DATE!!!
More details to come. But the team here at .youth just wanted to let you know that we’re definitely planning to celebrate all of you amazing rangatahi again this year for National Youth Week.

There’s a lot of awesomeness going on behind the scenes right now, and we will definitely update you with more details. But for now, lock this date in your diary and tell all your mates. Because National Youth Week is our time to celebrate all of you amazing 12 - 24 year olds.

Get ready for a FREE afternoon of FUN!!!!

24/03/2026

Amy from VOYCE is an absolute legend! She is in Whakatu Nelson every 4th week of the month to meet with you! If you have any questions, or need support from her, text her or email. She's love to hear from you.

If you don't know what VOYCE is....
VOYCE – Whakarongo Mai stands for “Voices of the Young and Care Experienced – Listen to Me”. We were designed with young people with care experience, for young people with care experience. VOYCE works with care experienced pēpi (babies), tamariki (children) and rangatahi (young people). “Care Experienced” means someone who has spent time in care.

22/03/2026

We’re so excited to be able to open The Lounge 3 days this week, so that we can welcome our friends from Fujimi, Japan, who are currently visiting Nelson/Tasman as part of an exchange program.

So this week the lounge is open:
Tuesday 3:30pm - 5pm
Wednesday 3:30pm - 5pm
Thursday Nurse appointments - 3:30pm - 5pm
Thursday - 6pm - 8pm

20/03/2026

Next week, we are excited to welcome our friends from Fujimi, Japan, who are visiting the Nelson/Tasman region on an exchange program. So, because of their special appearance, we will be opening The Lounge up on Wednesday, the 25th of March, from 3:30pm - 5pm, as well as our usual Tuesday and Thursday opening.

We still have the amazing nurse Abbey, our registered community nurse, taking FREE bookings for all youth aged 12 -24, to see her about any health or wellbeing concerns you may have, on a Thursday between 3:30pm and 5pm. So if you need to see Abbey, just jump on our website www.whanakeyouth.org.nz and book an appointment with her.

The vibes at The Lounge have been epic this term. We're so grateful for how much you all love the space and respect the space. We're also truly grateful for the kai we receive from Kai Rescue, the free toiletries we've been receiving from members in our community, and our amazing team of volunteers who make it possible to open this space up every week.

Keep enjoying The Lounge, and don't forget to pass on any feedback you have, as we want you to make this space your own!