More Manukau youth to benefit from free AMPd programme

An overwhelming response to the initial pilot introduced in Manurewa earlier this year has resulted in the John Walker ‘Find Your Field of Dreams’ Foundation confirming the launch of its AMP'd programme, designed to provide free sport and recreation activities to youth in local parks across Manukau.

Olympic gold medal winner and Foundation chairman Sir John Walker will be joined by League legend and former Kiwis captain Ruben Wiki at David Lange Park, Mangere, on Tuesday October 27 when AMP'd is rolled out for the first time across Otara, Papatoetoe and Mangere in addition to its Manurewa catchment.

This will bring the programme, which has already engaged around 6,000 Manurewa youth to get active while at the same time encouraging positive social behaviour and providing personal growth opportunities, to thousands more Manukau teenagers at eight parks, after school and at weekends.

In addition to the park drop-in programme, Manukau Leisure’s ‘Manukau on the Move’ team deliver youth team building activities, and youth leadership development is delivered by Youthline.

New Zealand sports icon, chairman of the foundation and Manukau City Councillor Sir John Walker is delighted with the success of AMP’d. “It is great to see Manukau’s young people getting active and having fun. I encourage anyone aged between 11 and 17 to come along and get involved.”

The popularity of AMP’d in Manurewa has seen more than 700 youth participate in the first month alone and the programme regularly attracts in excess of 100 young people to a single park.

The expected drop in attendance during the cold and wet winter months never happened and over 1000 youth continued to turn out in June for their afternoon of activities such as touch rugby, volleyball, streetball and tag.

The programme is made possible by funding from The Southern Trust and Find Your Field of Dreams and is delivered by Manukau Leisure.

The programme’s objective is to encourage disadvantaged youth to become more active and engaged in sport and physical recreation by developing skills and interest and eventually channelling them towards sports clubs and leadership opportunities.

Councillor Walker explains, “Selected youth, aged 13 to 17, who show promise are selected for the team building programme. That exposes them to exciting and challenging outdoor activities including kayaking, caving, mountain biking and rock climbing.”

The youth team building programme also offers opportunities to develop leadership skills. A group of 12 youth that display the requisite enthusiasm and commitment for personal development are selected to go on to participate in the Youthline leadership programme,” he says.

On completion of the leadership programme, participants have the opportunity to assist in developing and delivering events for the parks drop-in programme from which they were originally ‘recruited.’

AMP’d was developed in response to SPARC research showing that about half of youth in New Zealand don’t play any sport and of those who do, a third drop out between the ages of 13 and 17 years.

A measure of success is attributed the vibrant, outgoing young staff employed by Manukau Leisure who run the programme as well as partnerships with community groups including Counties Manukau Active, Traffick/Cheapskates, residents groups, Housing New Zealand and other youth groups.

For more details about AMP’d, visit www.ampd.org.nz.