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Services & funding > Youth Development Partnership Fund > Round one projects > Youth Cafe in Papakura
Youth Cafe in Papakura
A new community project is giving young people in Papakura a chance to strut their stuff in front of an audience: the Papakura Open Mike Youth Café.
 The café was set up as part of a project to motivate and develop young
people through creative expression and participation in local
activities. It runs on a weekly basis at a local hall and
consistently draws crowds of more than 50 a night. In 2006, more than
1,000 young people attended the youth café and more than 200 performed.
Project manager Leora Hirsh says the essence of the idea is to provide
a venue where talented Papakura young people can hone their performance
skills in front of their peers and mates in a café environment that is
staffed and managed by young people.
“Papakura’s youth performance café provides a safe, supervised,
alcohol-free meeting place for young people, and gives young performers
a chance to sharpen their skills in front of an audience.
“The cafe also provides training for a number of young volunteers in
café work, event management, and sound technician skills. Two young
people are employed on a part-time basis to run the café. “The young
people involved as volunteers are also learning some great skills, from
developing and designing menus through to comparing events”.
The Papakura Open Mike Youth Café project was selected to receive a
grant from the MYD’s annual Youth Development Partnership Fund
(YDPF). The project, submitted by Papakura District Council,
proposed the café be set up as a place where young people of the area
can express themselves, and gain performance and employment skills.
The launch of the youth performance café was well publicised with
articles in local media and promotion through Papakura community
networks and was showcased with mini performances at the local high
schools’ assemblies.
A couple of the highlights last year included a young performer from
the café performing for Prime Minister Helen Clark during her recent
visit to Papakura and our café manager, Larry Tausaga, being named
Aucklander of the Year by The Aucklander newspaper.
A key objective of the YDPF is to attract and encourage young people to
get involved in their communities, through inventive, youth-friendly
projects that teach valuable work, life and learning skills.
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