

Committed To Making A Difference
In 2014, Delane set out to make a difference in the lives of Tamariki by providing them with the tools, resources and support they need in order to shape their future. Over the years, MacStrong has grown significantly - offering youth of our communities a chance to reach their fullest potential and experience a different side of life. Our Tamariki are exposed to a wide range of day to activities and pro-social environments to build skills, emotional regulation, communication, life skills and career/ trade skills.
Our Objectives
To contribute to the development of a Young Persons sense of personal pride and self-esteem with the understanding that this pride will, in some way, transfer to their Whānau, culture and community.
We know that Young People who have a greater sense of purpose will have greater optimism, feel they belong, and have increased pride and self-esteem. We aim to provide programmes which support with developing Young Peoples intrinsic motivations, provide engaging learning options, and help them to discover and deepen their interests, talents, and passions.
What We Do
We Support at-risk Young People to reach their full potential by delivering programmes within the community in a safe and supportive environment. Reaching the needs of at risk and vulnerable Young People, this service provides positive programmes delivered by an experienced life skills coach or mentor. Enabling these young people to transform their lives for the benefit of themselves, their Whānau and their community is what this service is all about.
By having robust relationships with these Young People, their Whānau and their support/ social worker we create a client centric wraparound service of support which allows these Young People to flourish.
Programmes are delivered to individuals and/ or within a group setting, depending on the Young Person’s needs. Programmes delivered include but are not limited to diving, fishing and life skills such as basic carpentry skills, landscaping and changing tyres.
We support Young People aged 6 – 18 years old who may have been excluded from most other programmes because of the level of risk they pose e.g. behavioural issues, youth justice or high needs.
Programmes are delivered depending on the needs of the Young Person and are often within a community setting e.g. beach, park, indoor recreational facility and residential neighbourhoods.
All programmes have been established to achieve specific outcomes. For example, playing in the ‘Frameworks’ mental health touch tournament and playing alongside local Police Officers. This helps build relationships between the Young Person and police and humanises police officers by making them more relatable to our Young People. A positive outcome which embed positive learnings as we won the tournament.
Our diving programmes allow our Young People the autonomy to put kai on the table, to understand the importance of looking after our oceans as Tangata Whenua and to take pride in knowing they play a part in looking after something.
Important learnings are weaved into our programmes and are open to all cultures, although we do have a Kaupapa Māori approach to service delivery. Food nutrition and physical activity is a big component of the service e.g. mountain biking, touch tournaments and gym to name a few. We believe that Young People need to respect themselves and their property before they can begin to show respect for others.