Update

Engage with the future volunteers of your community

Issue date:

We’re pleased to be launching our pilot Taitamariki Programme for 9-16-year-olds in August. This pilot has been delayed previously due to restrictions, which now gives us an exciting opportunity to reach out to more brigades who might be interested.

What is the Taitamariki programme?

It’s part of the UFBA Pathways Project and aims to support brigades to:

  • Foster a volunteer-ethic among local youth
  • Sustain brigade membership through raising awareness of volunteering
  • Enhance community resilience

Taitamariki programmes will be run by brigades, with support from the UFBA if required. The programme consists of a guide for coordinators (brigade members) and a series of activity sheets. Some activities take 30 minutes, while others involve rangatahi organising an activity to help their community.

The activities are based around five themes:

  • Team building
  • Bushcraft
  • Community Service
  • First Aid
  • Safety and Rescue.

The pilot will run for five months from August to December 2022, brigades involved can start and finish at any time during this period. The programme is designed to be offered over a whole year or a few months by selecting the activities which best suit their group.

What do pilot brigades need to do?

An essential part of a pilot is to gain feedback. Brigades will nominate their coordinator(s) and UFBA will liaise with them throughout the five months, followed by a complete survey at the end. Feedback will also be from the rangatahi. We want comments and suggestions from the pilot to ensure the programme is fit for purpose.

Interested? Please get in touch to find out more: Pathways@ufba.org.nz