Supporting our rainbow youth

Our Whetū Marewa service in Rotorua currently supports over 30 young people who identify as part of rainbow communities. We offer both mental health specific interventions to support individual rainbow youth as well as running regular groups for our rainbow tiaohi. These groups can be either in schools across the region or hosted at our office each week. Our rainbow groups aim to support our youth to build connections with other taiohi, in a safe environment, and where they feel accepted and validated in who they are.

Our youth worker Abbey, who proudly leads our rainbow groups, describes the benefits of the service:

My greatest joy comes from being a part of people’s journey towards living their best life. It’s so fulfilling to see taiohi gaining confidence in themselves, and building a community where everyone is seen, and their voice is heard.

As part of our service in Rotorua, we also host community events. In March 2024, in partnership with the Rotorua Chamber of Pride, we were excited to hold our annual Gay Day event . People loved collecting pride stickers and flags and using the badge maker to create pronoun badges. The day ended with some educational activities and a clothes swap. We can’t wait to host more promotional events throughout 2024!