BGI (Wellington Boys' and Girls' Institute)

BGI (Wellington Boys' and Girls' Institute) BGI is a youth development organisation based in Wellington's inner city. We work with young people, their families and their communities.

The Wellington Boys’ and Girls’ Institute (BGI) is an association that was founded in 1883 by a group of young people associated with St John’s Church in Wellington City, who were looking for an organisation through which they could work to benefit other young people in their community. For a long time BGI was known for the gymnasium and swimming pool it ran. BGI has a number of programmes that focus on helping young people in the community build strong, healthy and life-long relationships with their families and peers, while developing other necessary life skills such as effective leadership and communication. BGI is committed to making Te Whanganui a Tara a better place for young people and their whānau. BGI works on what we have termed a ‘continuum of need’. We offer services to young people in our community with the understanding that all these people are at different stages and have different needs. Our programmes can be placed on a continuum from those who are high need cases and need one on one mentoring, to those young people who want to take a leadership position and make changes in the way young people are treated in their community. We can roughly place the services BGI offers in three umbrella headings which symbolise three main areas in which BGI provides young people with guidance, leadership and support. These can also be thought of as a progression from one to another on the BGI continuum of need. The first of these is pūkengatanga, meaning forming links between generations through mentoring and guidance, which is expressed in BGI through its programmes based on therapeutic adventure, mentoring and whānau wellbeing. The second is whare wānanga, which encompasses those programmes that work to develop and display the talents and skills of young people, such as youth groups, dance crews and the cultural exploration projects such as crossing the stile. Lastly is urungatanga where young people are guided in how to problem solve, to lead and to make changes in their own communities. In BGI this takes the form of action research, leadership support and youth work development. In this way BGI is still based on its founding principle – of providing an association through which young people can work to help other young people – but has also expanded to have a more holistic view of youth, with mentoring, parenting, dance and arts programmes and adventure therapy, as well as youth leadership and youth employment training programmes.

Our Kura Wānanga has wrapped up for the year, but if you’re going into year 12 or 13 and keen to join a tri yearly Māori...
08/10/2026

Our Kura Wānanga has wrapped up for the year, but if you’re going into year 12 or 13 and keen to join a tri yearly Māori-focused kaupapa in the New Year, flick us a DM!

It's been a sad month for us here at BGI, unfortunately, we've said goodbye to 2 of our staff and our loyal cube.Carey, ...
30/09/2026

It's been a sad month for us here at BGI, unfortunately, we've said goodbye to 2 of our staff and our loyal cube.

Carey, our Outreach and Gallery Director, we are truly grateful for all the mahi you put into setting the Social Gallery up. Thank you for holding space for art and artists at BGI

Pirihira, our ABL Youth Worker on our Te Whare Taiohi (TWT) programme, the time and effort you put into relationships with the young people did not go unnoticed. Thank you for being a calming presence and creating safe environments for your students

Rumi, thank you for humbling the young people especially when their friends saw them in a cube 🤣, for always doing the Kaibosh pickups, and for being our resident car.

Thank you all for your service to youth in Wellington and for all you've given to BGI. Carey and Pirihira, we know there is so much more you'll both do to support young people to thrive! BGI won't be the same without you

28/09/2026
UPDATE: Monday 28th September 1:00pm, Jojo has been found!Jojo is still missing! If you have any info please reach outJo...
27/09/2026

UPDATE: Monday 28th September 1:00pm, Jojo has been found!

Jojo is still missing! If you have any info please reach out

Jojo has been involved in many of our programmes and has been a part of BGI for a very long time as her mum, Helen Craig, has been making magic happen in the community kitchen for over 10 years

Another of our Te Whare Taiohi students working hard and smashing goals! Stoked to see Taika thriving in a new environme...
24/09/2026

Another of our Te Whare Taiohi students working hard and smashing goals! Stoked to see Taika thriving in a new environment and excited to see what he achieves next!

Awesome to see one of our Te Whare Taiohi students and Challenge for Change alumni taking the initiative and making wave...
24/09/2026

Awesome to see one of our Te Whare Taiohi students and Challenge for Change alumni taking the initiative and making waves! Everyone at BGI is super proud of Anton's commitment and determination, we're excited to see where he goes next!

It’s happened again!
22/09/2026

It’s happened again!

Ko te kai a te rangatira, he kōrero. Te reka hoki o ngā kai i p**a mai tēnei wānanga. This time last week, we had the pr...
16/09/2026

Ko te kai a te rangatira, he kōrero. Te reka hoki o ngā kai i p**a mai tēnei wānanga.

This time last week, we had the privilege of hosting Mindanao Young Leaders Programme It was inspiring to hear about all the incredible mahi they do for their communities across Mindanao, Phillipines 🇵🇭 We’re excited to see what they do next!

Hopefully, we get to meet and host future tira rangatira nō Mindanao 🤞🏽

Address

3 Macdonald Crescent, Te Aro
Wellington
6011

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