YouthlineAnnualReport-2023-Final.pdf

Wellington Annual Report 2023 An overview of Youthline Wellington Youthline Wellington serves as a beacon of hope and support to the youth community in the greater Wellington Region. Our unwavering dedication is empowering young individuals, providing them with essential life skills, and offering...

Wellington Annual Report 2023 An overview of Youthline Wellington Youthline Wellington serves as a beacon of hope and support to the youth community in the greater Wellington Region. Our unwavering dedication is empowering young individuals, providing them with essential life skills, and offering them life-changing support. We are fully committed to creating a future where every young person feels valued, supported, and empowered. Youthline Wellington offers a 24/7 Helpline that is made up by phone calls, texts, webchat messages and emails, aiming to be an accessible service to all young people, offering immediate support to anyone in crisis. We deliver counselling, provide personalised guidance, and care to those in need, aiming to nurture resilience and confidence into all young hearts that contact our Helpline. Youthline Wellington reaches thousands of young people each year through our school visits, community visits, events, and expos, spreading awareness of mental health and wellbeing. Our aim is that by teaching young people essential mental health topics and fostering empathy, we can empower young people. Our diverse programmes include the Youth Development Programme, Mental Health Peer Support Programme, Personal Development Programme, Helpline Counsellor ii Youthline Wellington Training, and our many ongoing Education and Training Programmes. These programmes aim to equip young people, our volunteers, and staff with vital life skills and self-belief, transforming their lives and fostering their resilience. Some of our programmes like our Personal Development Programme and Training Programmes, are guided by compassionate volunteers and staff, to offer invaluable training to our other volunteers and staff, so they may, in turn, guide and equip young people. Our Mental Health Peer Support Programs offers invaluable understanding and support to those facing similar struggles. As a registered charity, we rely on the continued generosity of partners, funders, and supporters in our community to continue our vital services. We are grateful to all our generous supporters, volunteers, and staff who continue to make a tangible difference in the lives of thousands of young people in the greater Wellington Region. Youthline Wellington is committed to empowering young people, transforming their futures, and nurturing their resilience. Together, we will inspire hope, foster resilience, and create a brighter tomorrow for every young person. Contents We are Youthline Wellington 2 Chairperson Report 3 Key Achievements 2023 5 Manager Report 7 Statistics for the 2022/2023 Year 18 Volunteer Profile 20 Training Coordinator Report 21 Supervisor Report 22 Communications Report 23 Clinical & Crisis Response and Helpline Operations Coordinator Report 25 Office Administrator and Volunteer Coordinator Report 26 Volunteer Profile 27 Education & Youth Development Coordinator Report 28 Volunteer Profile 31 Financial Report 32 Thank You to our National Sponsors 54 Thank You to our Local Supporters 55 Annual Report 2023 We are Youthline Wellington Our Vision Every young person in Aotearoa New Zealand has somewhere to turn for support. Our Mission To provide a safe youth-centred service that supports and empowers people. Our values Relevant Responsive to the needs of young people in our communities. Respectful Acknowledging everyone’s right to an opinion and valuing diversity. Strengths-based Encouraging all people to use their skills and resources. Supportive Providing a safe place for problem solving and reflection. 2 Youthline Wellington Chairperson Report Charmaine Ross E tūtaki ana ngā kapua o te rangi, Kei runga te Mangōroa e kōpae pū ana. The clouds in the sky gather, but above them extends the Milky Way. Nau mai, haere mai ki aku hui a tau. Welcome to our annual general meeting. By way of introduction: I te taha o toku whaea: No Ngati Whatua me Ngati Te Ata nga Iwi Ko Tilly Tereina Nathan whaea ia. Ko Robert Ururoa Flavell matua ia. Ko Elizabeth Caroline Flavell toku whaea I te taha o toku matua: Ko Ngati Porou me Ngai Tahu nga Iwi Ko Matutaera Nihoniho te tangata. Ko Hariata Iwa Nihoniho whaea ia. Ko Charles Redvers Matekina Denny matua ia. Ko Tuta Keepa Tamaterangi Tuteihoka Denny toku matua. Ko Charmaine Ross taku ingoa. I have had the fortune of being the Chair for Youthline Wellington this year 2023. You may not be aware, Youthline Wellington is in its 53rd year of operations. (It’s been around almost as long as I have.) There have been a number of things that have been fabulous. Funding has been readily sourced, thanks to the relationship management skills and accountability of Vicki Beachen. Our Treasurer’s report will provide some depth to our financial situation. We have also been incredibly lucky with fundraising efforts from a number of sources. Again, I only mention it in passing as Vicki will talk more specifically about this in her report. Suffice to say, our financial situation is looking promising. We were the recipient of Ignite who took Youthline Wellington on as a project for marketing and promotion for volunteer recruitment. Their work was outstanding and I am certain we will benefit from their mahi for some time to come. No doubt Vicki and Emma will make mention of this in their reports. We also had the opportunity to have access to Kate Smith who assisted the Governance Group with a strategic plan review. She gave unstintingly of her time and expertise to take the Governance Group on the journey of strategic plans and suggestions of steps required to move Youthline Wellington forward. Post-pandemic we are all still reeling from a kind of post-traumatic shock, exhaustion, mistrust and uncertainty. Youthline Wellington is working on a way into the future that has to take these challenges into account. This is ongoing work and I am certain that Youthline Wellington members’ contributions to our strategy will support our future endeavours. One of my portfolios is the National Executive and National Steering Group. The National Steering Group has met three times this year. The major item of discussion was the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). The first iterations required a lot of feedback. Sam Anderson (past Chair and an additional member of National Steering Group) and I collated the feedback from Wellington. At the last meeting, it was determined that subject to our respective governing bodies approval the MoU would be signed off in March/April 2024. The National Executive has committed to working together in the interests of taiohi/ young people. It has not been without its disagreements and realistically that’s normal. To my way of thinking, being supportive doesn’t require total agreement. The efforts of Youthline National through Youthline Auckland to improve the Helpline, with Online Support Service, 24/7 Helpline access and counselling your way for taiohi/young people is easy to talk about in terms of providing services for taiohi/young people faltering their way through Post-Pandemic uncertainty. Additionally, each independent and autonomous Youthline also puts significant resources into volunteer recruitment, training and development as well as triage. There are a number of possibilities for the Youthlines to work cooperatively in the future. E hara taka toa i te toa takitahi, he toa takitini. My strength is not as an individual, but as a collective. Annual Report 2023 Another of my portfolios is Staff and Contractors. Paid staff include our illustrious Manager Vicki Beachen. She has been at Youthline Wellington for eighteen years. In that time her reputation has grown as previously noted in regard to funding but also in the wider community. She has much to report in terms of Youthline Wellington operations. Lana Tovey, our current education and youth development coordinator, slipped into the role once Abbey Busch returned to Auckland. She has a number of achievements that are worth mentioning. It’s unlikely I could do her and them the proper justice so it is appropriate she talks about these herself. Emma Croxson-Page our current Office Administrator and Volunteer Coordinator ably picked up the reins from Lisa Louw, who moved to other employment. During Lisa’s tenure the volunteer winter intake was postponed despite an unenviable amount of preparatory work. Emma is currently working towards the volunteer summer intake. You make a difference: – Every time you make yourself come and/or do a shift, – Every time you make yourself support Youthline Wellington, – Every time you make yourself support others, – Every time you turn up for yet another meeting, – Every time you provide your opinions, feedback, comments, Annelies Kuypers has been our Clinical Liaison amongst other things this past year. Thanks to her role as HOPS chair she has been on top of changes that are required for Helpline volunteers. Consequently, any change of policy and/or to our Code of Practice has been undertaken by her. – Every time you take the actions you’ve agreed to, Tui Davies, a current supervisor, has taken on the role of Training Coordinator. When the volunteer winter intake was postponed she found different outside-the-box methods to utilise her mahi. We are fortunate to have such an innovative trainer. The things you do, fit well with my personal mantra: Governance members (Kelly To, Sam Kirk Reeve, Abbey Busch, Kelly Ye, Tarsh Orsman and I) as noted earlier are working on the Strategic Plan review. There are a number of legislative changes that Youthline Wellington has to give effect to in the near future and I foresee this will bring with it quite a body of work. We have been recruiting for Governance members and are still seeking people with past or present Helpline experience as we have a commitment to providing volunteers for the Helpline. Pai ake te iti i te kore rawātu. Little is better than nothing at all 4 I want to pause and take the time to thank all the volunteers that so generously give of their time and energy to Youthline Wellington. These include all Governance members, supervisors, comms team members, operational volunteers, youth development volunteers, and I’ve probably missed a few. I want to say that you are the beating heart of Youthline Wellington. Youthline Wellington – Every time you give of your precious time and energy. You make the difference. Ko au, ko koe. Ko koe ko au. I am you, you are me. We are all connected. That you do these things has also been a source of my personal development. That was about accepting the things you are able to do without expectations. Thank you for the lesson, it’s an important one. Heoi ano mo tenei wa No reira, tena koutou, tena koutou, tena tatou katoa. Key Achievements 2023 In the past year, Youthline Wellington has achieved the following: 52 Years of Service 2023 marks 52 years of service for Youthline Wellington’s Helpline Counselling and youth development services. Fundraising/Koha Fundraising is critical to the security of our ongoing operations and ensures we are able to continue offering our services to those who need them. There have been some amazing fundraising efforts this year and we are very grateful to everyone involved. Some key fundraising initiatives are highlighted below. – We were grateful to once again participate as Sprig & Fern’s charity of the month throughout February 2023. Through their weekly pub-quiz, Sprig & Fern Thorndon and their patrons raised $465.20 for Youthline Wellington. – On Sunday 19th February 2023, we had three Youthline Wellington Volunteers and staff representing and raising money for Youthline Wellington in Round the Bays 2023. Through their efforts they raised $556.50 for us. – During Youth Week (15th – 21st May), we ran a Digital Appeal with an Annual Street Appeal Day on Wednesday 17th May. Through these Annual Appeal efforts, our community raised $1,253.90. – On 22nd June 2023, our wonderful communications team volunteers ran a very successful movie fundraiser at Lighthouse Cuba Cinema that sold out! This fundraiser raised $496.70. Thank you so much to our volunteers, our community who attended, and Lighthouse Cuba Cinema for your involvement and generous contributions to this event. – AV Funding Youth (Vino & Anselm Martyn) have significantly contributed to Youthline Wellington since 2018 through their wonderful Charity Dinner Dance fundraisers. This financial year, on 22nd October 2022, AV Funding Youth and their community raised $9,565 for our organisation through their 2022 fundraiser. Collaboration This year, we have been working on maintaining and strengthening our relationships with the many organisations and businesses we work alongside. Below are some highlights of our collaborations in 2023: – Youthline has participated in 7 events and expos – We collaborated with 7 different community groups/schools through our youth and community programme services and delivered 5 workshops in total across these groups. – During Mental Health Awareness Week, we collaborated with Tiki Taane and Shapeshifter to gift signed prizes to our community. – Young people from 14 different schools participated in our Youth Development Programme. Personal Development Process and Helpline Training We were unable to deliver a Helpline Counsellor Intake due to a lack of applications for this role (despite a large number of expressions of interest). We feel this is a reflection of the changing landscape of volunteering as the community faces ongoing challenges such as juggling more than one job and navigating the cost of living crisis. We are thankful to our Youthline Training Coordinator for ensuring risk management training was provided to our current members despite there being no Intake this year. Another key achievement in the Helpline training space is Youthline Wellington’s excellent attendance at a cross-centre webchat training in September. Youthline Wellington made up 50% of the attendance at this training. Helpline Counselling Youthline Wellington Helpline Counsellors contributed 516.50 hours to the Helpline (1/1/23 – 24/10/23), and 191 shifts were undertaken. 6 Helpline counsellors moved up to solo status (2 phone and text solo, 1 text solo, and 3 to all mediums including webchat). We are incredibly grateful for the hard work and dedication of our Helpline counsellors this year. Annual Report 2023 Ongoing Education Programme Throughout 2023, Youthline Wellington delivered 1 Ongoing Education Programme workshop. People from at least 2 different organisations and 13 individuals attended this workshop. Thank you to those who attended and the Wellington City Council for your ongoing support of these workshops. Youth Development Programme Youthline Wellington ran another successful Youth Development Programme with 38 young people participating in the 20-week programme (23 in Porirua, 15 in Wellington). For the third year, we’ve delivered an Extension Option where young people attended an additional 6 sessions to earn their full Level 3 Certificate in Youth Work. 30 young people opted into the Extension Option (15 in Porirua and 15 in Wellington) in 2023. In 2023, the Youth Development Programme groups ran a youth event each. Both groups chose topics that were front facing for young people today – Mental Health Awareness, and Youth Life Skills and Safety. The days consisted of whakawhanaungatanga, building connections, gaining knowledge on mental health and self-care, drug harm reduction, playing games, eating kai, and most importantly, connecting with their peers. 5 wonderful Youth Development Volunteers journeyed alongside young people in the Youth Development Programme this year. Mental Health Peer Support Programme (MHPSP) Throughout 2023, Youthline Wellington has delivered 5 Mental Health Peer Support Programmes across Wellington Central and the wider Wellington region. Through this programme, we have connected with approximately 36 young people. 2023 has been the first year we have delivered this programme at an Intermediate school. Our programme at Raroa Intermediate was very well received and has opened doors to continue delivering MHPSP within Intermediate schools in the future. We are very grateful to all the staff and students who have been a part of this programme in 2023. It was a pleasure working alongside the Peer Leaders at the Tawa College sessions - thank you to Art, Ruby, Ella, and Rumaysa for your wonderful help. 6 Youthline Wellington Manager Report Vicki Beachen Nō Kōtirana, no Aerana, no Engarani ōku tīpuna. I whānau mai au ki Te Whanganui-a-tara, no reira, e mihi ana ki te mana whenua o tēnei rohe, a Te Atiawa, a Ngāti Toa Rangatira hoki. E noho ana au ki Porirua. I tipu ake au i raro i te maru o Kaukau. Ko Plimmerton Beach te moana e rūnei tōku ngākau. Ko Michael raua ko Karen ōku mātua. Ko Vicki ahau. My ancestors are from Scotland, Ireland and England. I was born in Wellington, therefore I acknowledge the mana whenua of this region, Te Atiawa and Ngāti Toa Rangatira. I currently live in Porirua. I grew up beneath the shelter of mount Kaukau. Plimmerton Beach is the ocean that speaks to my heart. Michael and Karen are my parents. I am Vicki. Kia ora koutou A large component of my role is accessing and accounting for funding. The largest aspect of this is managing relationships with potential funders and supporters. This year has been successful but, as you can imagine, it has been hard work. The funding and grant environment is ever-changing. There is no doubt it is likely to become increasingly difficult. I’m grateful that many of my funders have given me a ‘heads up’ about that for which I am grateful. My passion and commitment for the mahi of Youthline Wellington hasn’t changed from the time I started 18 years ago. Much has changed over this time - as it should. Change is a constant. Yet the generosity of our amazing staff and volunteers also remains as a constant. It is fortunate that I am in the position to access development opportunities for them, and this is one of the reasons I am still here. Despite this, the past year has been a challenging journey for us. As a reflection of what’s happening in our society, staff and volunteers have noted their tiredness, anxiety and uncertainty. Sickness continued throughout the staff team and volunteers within the organisation. Many are, or have been, experiencing compassion fatigue; the cost-ofliving crisis, has had a huge impact on the whanau; consequently, sickness has had an enormous effect throughout the whole organisation. Self-care is an absolute essential. I am proud that I have been able to support staff and volunteers in this. Earlier this year, we farewelled our long serving (19 years) Senior Internal Supervisor and Wellbeing Coordinator, Gae Neill. Some exciting news is the recruitment of a Wellbeing Coordinator who will assist with volunteer check ins and catch ups. This is vitally important particularly as we continue to support mental health and wellbeing for rangatahi. Part of my role is to provide support for staff, volunteers and other Youthline centres. This year has required even more, and I feel privileged to have been able to do so. Recruitment has featured as a large element of my work this year both within the staff team and volunteer teams. Highlights 52 years of service Youthline Wellington celebrates 52 years of service this year. Youthline Wellington continues to be a recognised and trusted brand. Paid Staff over the past 12 months – Vicki Beachen, Manager, 35 hours/week – Abbey Busch, Education & Youth Development Coordinator, 30 hours per week (resigned from this role on 10 February 2023) – Lana Tovey, Education & Youth Development Coordinator, 30 hours/week (commenced role on 6 March 2023) – Annelies Kuypers, Crisis Response & Helpline Operations Coordinator, 20 hours/week, reducing to 10 hours/week, on 10 April 2023, resigned from the role on 21 August 2023) – Ariana Wanoa, Office Administrator & Volunteer Coordinator, 20 hours/week (commenced role on 22 August 2022, resigned on 30 March 2023) – Lisa Louw, Office Administrator and Volunteer Coordinator, 20 hours/week (commenced role on 3 April 2023, resigned 4 August 2023) – Emma Croxson-Page, Office Administrator and Volunteer Coordinator, 20 hours/week (commenced role on 31 July 2023) Annual Report 2023 I would like to take this opportunity to publicly thank all of the above staff with whom I have been so very privileged to work over the past 12+ months. We have fortunately retained Abbey’s expertise and skills within the Officer Group. Lana took over the role in March and has done an incredible job in the role of Education and Youth Development Coordinator and in particular coordinating and facilitating our youth development programme this year. There has been a lot of movement within the Office Administrator and Volunteer Coordinator role. It was comforting when Emma showed interest in this part-time paid role, especially after they had already been a long-term operational volunteer. Annelies was a very valued member of our Youthline Wellington staff team and provided a lot of support to staff throughout her time in the role. We are grateful that Annelies decided to continue volunteering for our organisation in the Clinical space and that she can also use our helpline hub space to do her contract work for Youthline Auckland. This is one of the ways that Youthline Wellington can continue to support Youthline’s national helpline platform. Funding for the Staff Team As of 30 September 2023, Youthline Wellington has three paid staff or 2.5 FTE. We were fortunate to have an additional staff member during the year. Consequently, we were able to accomplish more but they resigned from the role so that they could move on to study and focus on their other paid employment. I would like to give thanks to Me Heke Ki Poneke (Wellington City Council), Te Puna Tahua (NZ Lottery Grants Board), Te Upoko o te Ika (Wellington Community Fund) and Te Tahua Ma Nga Whakahaere i Nga Hapori (Community Organisation Grants Scheme – COGS) for continuing to recognise the necessity for staff to maintain our Vision, Mission and Values. Funding for staff, programmes and operations One of the biggest highlights of my year has been securing additional funding from the Te Puna Tahua (NZ Lottery Grants Board) which supports salaries for Youthline’s Manager, Education & Youth Development Coordinator, Crisis Response and Helpline Operations Coordinator and our Office Administrator and Volunteer Coordinator. 8 Youthline Wellington With continued support from Me Heke Ki Poneke (Wellington City Council), we were excited to receive funding for a new two-year contract which assists us with staff wages, to deliver our Ongoing Education Programme Workshops to Youthline’s staff, volunteers and the community. This funding also helps us deliver Mental Health Peer Support Programmes in the Wellington region. We are extremely grateful for the funding assistance received from the Lion Foundation and Betty Campbell Accommodation Assistance for the contribution towards the rental of our premises, ensuring that we continue to have a safe, secure and confidential space for our staff, Helpline counselling area and other volunteers to operate from. We invited visitors and guest speakers to come to staff and/or team meetings from organisations such as the Wellington City Council, Volunteer Wellington, Ignite Consultants, RespectEd, Bachelor of Youth Development (BYD) Students, Praxis Students, young people from the Mindanao Young Leaders Programme, as well as hosting the Korean Embassy on behalf of the delegation from the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family. Volunteers Each year volunteers contribute thousands of hours to Youthline for the benefit of the wider Wellington community. I am privileged to work with such dedicated, committed and enthusiastic people. We currently have around 70 volunteers. They are Helpline counsellors, Youth Development Volunteers, Officers on our Governance Board, Supervisors, Training Coordinator and trainers, facilitators, team leaders, convenors and coordinators. They are also operational volunteers working in the areas of wellbeing, communications, marketing, events and expos, fundraising, finance and IT. Earlier this year, we welcomed Eleanor Butterworth back to Youthline Wellington. Eleanor replaced Gae Neill as the Internal Senior Supervisor. We are extremely grateful for Eleanor’s skills and expertise and thank her for supporting our Group Supervisors as well as our organisation. A big warm welcome and a massive thanks to our 5 wonderful Youth Development Volunteers who facilitated alongside Lana in this year’s Youthline Youth Development Programme 2023 – Albion, Natarsha, Starzie, Mya and Deana. I also want to acknowledge Natarsha (Tarsh) who has been facilitating the Porirua Youth Development Programme for 3 years now. Our longest-serving Youthliners I want to acknowledge the following volunteers who continue to make a significant contribution to Youthline Wellington over their many years of volunteering for our organisation: – 43 years – Meriann Betham (Helpline Counsellor) – 14 years – Justine Wong (Accountant) – 11 years – Peter Doyle (Helpline Counsellor) – 9 years – Marcy Banbury (Comms Team Volunteer – Graphic Designer for our Annual Report) – 7 years – Charmaine Ross (Officer/Chairperson, Operations Volunteer, Wellbeing Team, National Executive and National Steering Group) and Daikyn Nuku (Operational Volunteer – Communications Team) – 6 years - Nicole Fyfe (Group Supervisor, Helpline Counsellor and PDP Facilitator) and Tui Davies – (Group Supervisor, Training Coordinator, Helpline Counsellor, PDP Facilitator, Mentor) Thank you and Farewell I would like to take this opportunity to thank Shannan Wong, Marea Nicolle and Gae Neill for their outstanding service to Youthline Wellington over the many years that they have been volunteering for our organisation, 19-20 years, such incredible dedication, passion and commitment from these wonderful people. We were very sad to see them go and a huge hole was left to fill, but this also gave our organisation the opportunity to take on board the feedback that was provided, and a chance to reset as an organisation. – Youthline Wellington Governance Board/ Officers – Rhys Bayly (Treasurer) and Anita Ravji (Deputy Chair) – Supervisors – Gae Neill (Internal Senior Supervisor and Wellbeing Coordinator), Marea Nicolle (Group Rangimarie) and Cathy Halbleib (Group Kowhai TT) – Training Coordinator – Shannan Wong – Communications Coordinator – Nick Brown & Communications Team Members – Helena and Alex – Helpline Counsellors – Alice, Nicholas, Daniela, Mikaela, Luke, Yassmin, Jess and Shwetha – Wellbeing Team – Cristian National Volunteer Week (18-24 June 2023) Weaving People Together Te Wiki Tūao ā-Motu – National Volunteer Week honours the collective energies and mana of volunteers in Aotearoa. They grow our people, open minds, open hearts and create joy. Tūao Aotearoa Volunteering New Zealand leads this national event, which runs from June 18–24 June. This year’s theme is He wā pīataata – Time to shine. Youthline Wellington really appreciates all our volunteers’ contributions to our organisation in which ever volunteer role they choose. Youthline Wellington nominated Helpline Counsellor, Peter Doyle, for the Mahi Aroha Awards 2023, the ceremony took place on 22 June 2023. We would like to acknowledge Peter for his outstanding effort and contribution on the Helpline. This year, during National Volunteer Week 2023, we held a very successful movie fundraiser evening on 22 June 2023 at Lighthouse Cuba Cinema. The movie was “The Little Mermaid” which was well attended and sold out; therefore, we are looking to organise another movie fundraiser in 2024. Volunteers’ Feedback from Exit Interviews Over the last year, 17 people left Youthline Wellington, which was 3 more people than the previous year, where 14 people left. These volunteers were as follows: 8 Helpline Counsellors, 3 Operational Volunteers (Communications and Wellbeing), 3 Group Supervisors, 2 Officers on the Governance Board and 1 Training Coordinator. Number of resignations by role Governance Board (Officer) 2 Supervisor 3 Training Coordinator 1 Operational (Communications, Wellbeing) 3 Helpline counsellor 8 Total 17 An increase in other time commitments and personal reasons (e.g., health, family, relationships, stress) were the most common reasons for leaving during the 2022-2023 period. Moving away from Wellington was also a common reason for leaving. Annual Report 2023 Youthline Wellington’s Personal Development Process Feedback was predominantly positive. One respondent highlighted the opportunities it provided to build friendships and encourage self-growth; ‘it is something I will remember for the rest of my life.’ Another non-counsellor respondent who participated in some aspects of the process described it as ‘… great! So thoughtful, kind and interesting.’ Training process and Ongoing Education Programme (OEP) One respondent (7 rating) felt the training process and OEP was a valuable learning experience and recognised improvement in their communication skills specifically as a result. They indicated that they found the role plays stressful but acknowledged the value of being given the chance to practically implement recently acquired knowledge. Another respondent (6 rating) indicated they found the assessment at the end of the training process stressful and suggested improved clarification for trainees around what factors (as well as the assessment) are considered for successful completion of the training. One respondent (7 rating) highlighted the value of the survey upon OEP completion and appreciated the effort made to request OEP content feedback and future learning interests from participants. One respondent (4 rating) indicated that online OEP training was the best form of delivery for them personally. Buddying One respondent (rating 5) praised this process, indicating their buddy experiences were ‘great’ and that they were always ‘very supportive and helpful’ however they also struggled to organise and join buddy shifts because of other time commitments. This issue was echoed by two other respondents (rating 3 and 6). Supervision Feedback on supervision was predominantly positive and described as ‘really helpful and supportive’. One respondent simply wrote ‘aroha’ for their feedback. Management Processes Feedback was positive, with management described as ‘great’ and a ‘fantastic team of people, really welcoming,’ and ‘very well organised.’ The ability to gain information through supervision was highlighted by one respondent. 10 Youthline Wellington Communication Processes Collaboration Of the respondents that provided feedback all were very satisfied with Youthline Wellington’s communication processes – feeling ‘constantly kept in the loop’ and finding them ‘very useful and informative.’ Youthline Wellington and Ara Taiohi have shared an open plan office space for almost 10 years. We continue to work together, to support one another, through shared teams and resources. Other Comments Appreciation for time spent at Youthline Wellington: ‘Was awesome to be involved. Have a great group of people there who are doing incredibly important work.’ Helpline Youthline is now 24/7, thanks to the continued support received from ASB. “As Youthline’s Principal Partner, we’re helping accelerate the vital work they do, and connecting more young people with free mental health support”. “New Zealand is facing a youth mental health crisis. That’s why we partner with Youthline, so our rangatahi can get the mental health support they need, and ultimately, live life one step ahead”. “Through our partnership, we’ve helped Youthline bring on overnight counsellors so now young people can get the support they need, day and night”. One in five teenagers experience symptoms of depression. That’s why we need to normalise talking about mental health. We want our rangatahi to know that whatever’s going on, it’s okay to reach out to Youthline and ask for help. We are very grateful to all our local funders, stakeholders and community supporters, as well as the national funders and supporters, who generously support the running of Youthline’s Helpline. Youthline Wellington currently has 25 Helpline Counsellors. We are currently recruiting for more Helpline Counsellors through our Summer 2024 volunteer intake. From 1 October 2022 until 30 September 2023, our Wellington Helpline Counsellors have completed 674 hours on the Helpline, answered 172 calls and 69 emails, responded to 406 unique text clients and sent and received a total of 6,821 Texts. Youthline’s top 10 Text presenting issues for the year were as follows: Suicide, Depression & Sadness, Fear & Anxiety, Relationships, Self-Harm, School – Academic, Loneliness & Isolation and Eating Difficulties. Ara Taiohi is the peak body for youth development in Aotearoa. They are a national membershipbased organisation with over 1,600 personal and organisational members representing a diverse range of groups and practitioners that work with young people. This year, Youthline Wellington was delighted to collaborate on a nine-week project with Ignite Consultants Wellington, where Youthline’s staff and volunteers got the opportunity to work alongside a diverse team of 5 consultants, joined by a project manager, an experienced mentor, geared towards generating social change in the Wellington Community. Ignite Consultants, provide student-driven consulting services for not-for-profit organisations. They recruit teams of talented, socially minded and motivated students to work together to offer solutions for not-for-profit organisations experiencing diverse challenges. To maximise the impact of each project, students receive training on different aspects of social entrepreneurship as well as mentoring from academics, not-forprofit leaders, and professionals from the business community. Project Manager, Katie Donald, reported the following – “Ignite Consultants Wellington was fortunate to collaborate with Youthline Wellington this year and explore ways to make the process of becoming a Youthline volunteer easier and appeal to a more diverse pool of volunteers in the community. Based on our conversations, Angelynn Jayasuria, Maisie McEnergy-Lane, RoseMarie Grima, Jayden Try and myself (Katie Donald) designed a recommendations pack which included a list of different groups Youthline Wellington can reach out to, strategies on how to communicate with those groups, a refresh of their current volunteer information pack and some recommendations for retaining volunteers longterm. Working with Youthline Wellington has been an absolute highlight and we thank Vicki and her entire team for being so welcoming and awesome to work with”. Annual Report 2023 Youthline National Executive Youthline Wellington’s Chairperson, Charmaine Ross, and I, continued to take part in Youthline’s monthly National Executive video conference meetings, with the other Youthline centres. There was also a face-to-face hui held up in Auckland on Tuesday 3 October 2023. Networking Youthline Wellington maintains positive working relationships with many organisations and businesses in the Wellington and Greater Wellington region. I have listed some of my key ones below and the others will be mentioned in reports throughout this Annual Report. Ara Taiohi, ASB, AV Funding Youth, Awhi Yoga & Wellbeing, Betty Campbell Accommodation Assistance Fund, Cisco, COGS, Colleges, Intermediates and Primary Schools, Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand, Community Comms Collective, Community Law Centre, Community Networks Wellington, Department of Internal Affairs, Domino’s New Zealand, Evolve Youth Service, Exult, Family Planning, Friends of Youthline, kaffee eis, Lighthouse Cinema, Manuela Florist, Massey University, Mental Health Foundation, New Zealand Drug Foundation, New Zealand Lottery Grants Board, Outward Bound, PSA, RespectEd, Rotary Club of Eastern Hutt, Samaritans, Skylight, Sprig & Fern Thorndon, Vibe, Take 10, The Freestore, The Lion Foundation, The Peer Tree, Thomas George Macarthy Trust, Unity Books, Vavasour Charitable Trust Board, Victoria University of Wellington, Vino & Anselm Martyn, Volunteer Wellington, Volunteer New Zealand, Wellington City Council, Wellington Community Fund, Whittakers, Winton & Margaret Bear Charitable Trust, Youthline Auckland, Youthline CNI, Youthline CSI, Youthline Otago, Youthline Southland, Youthline National Executive & Youthline National Steering Group. A large part of the role of Manager is applying for funding to maintain our service provision. I am extremely grateful to our funders (mentioned above and again at the end of this Annual Report) for their continued and ongoing support in our very important mahi. I am very grateful to my external Supervisor, Marg, who has supported me in my role for many years now. 12 Youthline Wellington A huge thanks also to Julie Thomson, Regional Manager, Volunteer Wellington Te Puna Tautoko and the lovely team at Volunteer Wellington. Youthline continues to receive amazing training and development opportunities through Volunteer Wellington as well as having many volunteers referred, both for Helpline Counselling and other Operational roles such as Governance Board Members (Officers). Also, Debbie and Janette at Community Networks Wellington. They are two amazing and dedicated people who keep the CNW office ticking along and I continue to find the relationship useful and valuable. I attend the monthly CNW meetings as often as I can, and they continue to promote our workshops and opportunities to the community. I would highly recommend attending this network as generally there are over 20+ community organisations represented at this networking meeting. Youthline Events and Expos in the Community Youthline was able to have a presence at the following events and expos in 2023: – Youthline quiz night fundraiser at Sprig & Fern, Thorndon, Wellington – 7, 14, 21 & 28 February 2023 – Wellington Round the Bays 2023 – 19 February 2023 – Youthline stall at VUW Science and Health Careers Expo – 9 May 2023 – Youth Week - 15-21 May 2023 – Youthline Wellington’s Annual Street Appeal Day – 17 May 2023 – Youthline stall at Wellington Careers Expo, TSB Arena – 23 and 24 June 2023 – Youthline stall at VUW Careers Expo – 27 July 2023 – Charity Dinner Dance Fundraiser in aid of Youthline Wellington (Organised by Anselm and Vino Martyn, AV Funding Youth) – 4 November 2023 Local Fundraising Initiatives – Entertainment Memberships – May – September 2023 – Movie night fundraiser at Lighthouse Cuba Cinema – 22 June 2023 Youthline Wellington’s Givealittle link (Fundraiser) We continued to share our Youthline Wellington Givealittle link around our networks, for anyone wanting to donate to our organisation. There is the option to make a one-off payment, monthly, fortnightly or weekly payments. Thank you so much to those who have made donations to our organisation over the past 12 months. https://givealittle.co.nz/org/ylwgtn Youthline Wellington’s Donations link on website (Fundraising) There is a donations option link on the Youthline Wellington part of the website. We continue to have one regular donor who has set up a monthly donation amount, which is fantastic, and we really appreciate your ongoing support. https://www.youthline.co.nz/wellington-centrepage.html Sprig & Fern Quiz Nights – February 2023 Thank you to the following Youthline staff and volunteers who helped out at the Sprig & Fern Quiz nights on Tuesday evenings throughout February 2023 –Shwetha, Abigail, Ariana, Sam KR, Annelies, Tui and Nick. A total of $472.80 was raised over the 4 Tuesday evenings. A big thanks to the Sprig & Fern for allowing us to fundraise at their pub quiz evenings and for donating the raffle prize on the first quiz evening. We look forward to continuing to fundraise at the Sprig and Fern, Thorndon throughout February 2024. Youth Week 2023 - Youthline Wellington’s Annual Street Appeal Day & Digital Appeal Youthline Wellington’s Annual Street Appeal Day is generally one of our biggest fundraisers for the year. This year, we had 14 volunteer collectors involved. Youthline had a team of 4, collecting up at New World Thorndon, throughout the day. A huge thanks to Youthline’s Manager, Vicki, Youthline’s Board Member/ Chair, Charmaine, Helpline Counsellor, Danny S and volunteer supporter, Lesa for giving up your time to help us collect. A huge thanks also to the team of 10, from the Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand’s, Wellington Office, who kindly provided volunteers to assist with collecting throughout the day down in the Lambton Quay area. We are extremely grateful for their ongoing support. Annual Report 2023 Throughout the month of May 2023 (1-31 May) we also ran an online digital Appeal, which raised $350.00. Thank you very much to all the generous people who took the time to donate to Youthline Wellington. A total of $890.90 was raised this year from the Street Appeal and Digital Appeal 2023. Youthline Stall at Wellington 2023 Careers Expo Friday 23 June - Saturday 24 June 2023, TSB Arena, Wellington 10am-3pm This year, the Youthline stall was fun, bright and interactive. We used our new Youthline banners and tablecloth which has our new Youthline logo on them. As well as setting up our Youthline resource table, which also included a couple of other organisations resources (Skylight & Know Your Stuff), we set up a couple of interactive wall displays and included the popular game of Quoits (Ring Toss), which proved to be a great way to engage the young people. Lollies continue to be a draw card to our stall every year too. Thanks so much to Lisa, Daikyn and Jonathon for helping me set up the stall on Thursday 22 June 2023. Thanks also to the following people for helping out at the stall – Lana, Lisa, Daikyn, Jonathon, Emma and Lesa (Friday), Daikyn, Lana and Jonathon (Saturday). This was really appreciated. 33 schools and 3,820 individuals attended this year’s Wellington Careers Expo. Youthline Wellington Partnerships, Community Support & Local Fundraising Initiatives ASB, AV Funding Youth, Chartered Accountants of Australia and New Zealand, Kelly’s Spring Fundraiser, Outward Bound, Domino’s, Rotary Club of Eastern Hutt, as well as our wonderful community all rallied around to support Youthline this year. Partnership for Youthline In May 2022, Youthline was very excited to announce its new 3-year partnership with ASB. We are now in our 2nd year of our partnership with them and it’s going really well. Even with corporate support like ASB, Youthline must still rely on the generosity of donors to ensure that it can continue to provide its vital service to our young people. 14 Youthline Wellington Walk for Mental Health (Sunday 26 March 2023) The walk started at the entrance to Hikoikoi Reserve, Petone Foreshore. The distance will be approximately 3kms in total, we will walk to the wharf and then turn and head back to the Reserve. Enjoy live music provided by the band, “Quite Some Company”, and a BBQ to follow after the walk. A $3,000 donation was received from the Rotary Club of Eastern Hutt from funds raised at the Walk for Mental Health, held in Petone on Sunday 26 March 2023. We are extremely grateful to everyone who took part in this event to make it a success. We were able to use some of this very generous donation towards helping run a Youthline Mental Health Peer Support Programme out in a Hutt Valley College this year. Mental Health Awareness Week (18 September – 24 September 2023) A huge thank you to Tiki Taane and Shapeshifter who donated some awesome prizes to our Youthline Wellington social media giveaways throughout Mental Health Awareness Week 2023. Kelly’s Spring Fundraiser supporting Youthline Wellington Local Community member, Kelly Phillips, contacted Youthline Wellington in July, to advise that she was organising a birthday celebration at the Strathmore Local Bar and Eatery in September 2023 and wanted to support our organisation. Kelly organised a very successful fundraiser for Youthline Wellington and through givealittle donations, and raffles, received a fantastic amount of $1,055.00 from 26 generous donors. Thank you so very much Kelly, for choosing to support our organisation. This generous donation has been put towards supporting our Youthline Youth Development Programme. Charity Dinner Dance FUNdraiser in aid of Youthline Wellington (Organised by AV Funding Youth - Anselm and Vino Martyn) Vino and Anselm Martyn again very kindly organised a very successful fundraiser for Youthline Wellington. It was held on Saturday 4 November 2023 at the Atura Hotel, in Thorndon, Wellington, raising $6,100.00 for Youthline Wellington. I want to acknowledge all the incredible hard work that both Vino and Anselm put in to make this event such a success. A wonderful night was had by all the 80+ people who attended. The buffet dinner was delicious, the entertainment on the night from the dance performances by young people from L.O.D Dance Studios were amazing as was Anselm Martyn on the sax and vox, the Harpist, The Harp Lady was incredibly talented and the live band, The Party Mammals, rocked. The charity raffle and auctions were a great success. A huge thank you to Vino Martyn for donating her incredible stainedglass artwork produced by her, which went to a very happy bidder on the night. Vino has since 2018 donated 4 such beautiful pieces of Stained-Glass Artwork produced by her for auctioning towards the Youthline fundraisers. Thank you also to the following Youthline volunteers for coming along on the evening and representing our organisation – Charmaine, Lana, Annelies, Daikyn, Nicole and Jonathon. Thank you to our wonderful volunteers for your help selling the raffle tickets. A huge thanks also to Darren Young of Wellington Building Services for gifting 5 fundraiser tickets to our Youthline team. Since 2018, the grand total AV Funding Youth have raised in aid of Youthline Wellington is $32,000. What a fantastic effort from two very caring, passionate and dedicated people in our local community. Anselm and Vino say that they are very happy doing their best for this worthy cause. Youthline Wellington is so incredibly grateful to Anselm and Vino Martyn for continuing to support our work with young people. I am really looking forward to the opportunity to continue working alongside them again in 2024. Annual Report 2023 Youthline National Fundraising Initiatives Domino’s New Zealand – for the pizza’s codes received through Youthline Auckland for our regional Youthline Centres to use at various Youthline events and programmes throughout the year. We are extremely grateful to Domino’s for their ongoing support over the many years. Thank you I would like to acknowledge and thank the following Youthline outgoing Officers – Rhys Bayly (Treasurer) and Anita Ravji (Deputy Chair), who both resigned from their roles on the Board on 31 March 2023. A huge thank you must also go to Charmaine Ross, our chairperson, who has continued to support me in my role as Manager and has also supported the organisation in many capacities. Charmaine is a great mentor to many and provides valuable support in the Comms and Wellbeing areas as well as on the Governance Board. Although we say farewell to Charmaine in the Officer Group space at the end of this year, we are grateful that she has chosen to stay connected with our organisation in other volunteering roles in 2024. This year, we welcomed Abbey Busch as a General Officer and Kelly Ye into the Treasurer role. Kelly To (our super organised and efficient Secretary) and Samuel Kirk-Reeve, General Officer/Treasurer Support, continued their wonderful mahi with the Officer Group. I really appreciate your huge contribution to Youthline Wellington and have enjoyed working with you all. A massive thanks to all our Youthline Group Supervisors – Gae Neill, Marea Nicolle, Nicole Fyfe, Cathy Halbleib, Tui Davies, Zoe Walsh and Eleanor Butterworth, for your dedication to both our organisation and to your group members, as well as acknowledging all the Groups 2-I-C’s. Our Youthline Clinical Team - Annelies Kuypers with support from Ashleigh Brown, two wonderful and hard-working people, who continue to work effectively across teams this year. Communications Coordinator/s –Nick Brown and Jonathon Davies with support from Daikyn Nuku for all your wonderful mahi as Comms Coordinators and for all the amazing connections you have made throughout the time in this role. We said farewell to Helena from the Comms Team who has been a member for 3 years and has done an outstanding job on our Youthline newsletters. 16 Youthline Wellington A huge thanks also to Marcy Banbury, who has continued to design our Youthline Wellington Annual Report for 9 years now and always done an exceptional job. I would like to acknowledge Justine Wong, our dedicated Volunteer Accountant of 14 years, who works quietly behind the scenes with our Youthline accounts, our organisation is so very grateful to you for your dedication and commitment to this role. Special thanks also to Dave Wong, who again this year assisted me with proofreading reports for our Annual Report 2023. Sam Anderson, thank you for remaining on the Youthline National Steering Group (NSG) this year with Charmaine Ross. Our wonderful and passionate Helpline Counsellors, continue to be there supporting the Helpline. Every week, hundreds of young people from Aotearoa reach out to Youthline for support during some of the toughest moments of their lives. Thank you so much for being there to support these young rangatahi who contact us through either phone, text, email or webchat. You’re awesome and appreciated. Thank you again to all our generous Youthline Wellington volunteers for your contribution and mahi to our organisation. Thanks also to our awesome funders, sponsors, partners, supporters and Friends of Youthline, who worked towards helping Youthline have another very successful year. Your contributions ensure that young people in Aotearoa New Zealand who may be struggling know that they can reach out to Youthline for support. We want rangatahi to know that whatever’s going on, it’s OK to reach out and ask for help. I hope you all have a wonderful summer break, take time out to rest and recharge and I look forward to continuing to work with you all in 2024. Ngā mihi nui Vicki Beachen Annual Report 2023 Statistics for the 2022/2023 Year Helpline Contact total per Type Responded to by Wellington Helpline Counsellors Phone 172 Oct 2022 Sept 2023 Online Chat 2 Email 69 Text (Total Unique Clients) 406 Phone 87 Oct 2021 Sept 2022 Text (Total Unique Clients) 338 Oct 2022 Sept 2023 248 18 Helpline Shifts Completed by Wellington Helpline Counsellors by 23 counsellors Youthline Wellington Oct 2021 Sept 2022 by 33 counsellors 292 Email 47 Text Contact - Primary Presenting Issues Total National Helpline Statistics for October 2022 - September 2023 Suicide Depression & Sadness Fear & Anxiety Relationships - Family Self-Harm Relationships - Peer Relationships - Partner School - Academic Loneliness & Isolation Eating Difficulties Bullying Grief & Loss Abuse & Violence - Physical Abuse & Violence - Sexual Support for Friend/s Abuse & Violence - Emotional Self-Esteem Identity & Purpose of Life Medical Health Employment Issues 0 Text Contact Responded to by Wellington Helpline Counsellors Oct 2022 - Sept 2023 Text Contact Responded to by Wellington Helpline Counsellors Oct 2021 - Sept 2022 10,000 20,000 30,000 40,000 Total Incoming Texts Total Outgoing Texts Unique Text Clients 2,711 4,110 406 Total Incoming Texts Total Outgoing Texts Unique Text Clients 2,587 3,864 338 Annual Report 2023 Volunteer Profile Abbey Busch – General Officer How long have you been a member of Youthline Wellington? I joined Youthline Wellington in 2019, so about four years now. Which roles have you undertaken while serving at Youthline Wellington? I joined as a communications team member and was then lucky enough to be employed as Youthline Wellington’s Education and Youth Development Coordinator. During my employment I also went on the journey of becoming a Helpline Counsellor and a Personal Development Programme Facilitator. After leaving my paid role due to moving cities, I have become a General Officer. What motivated you to join the Youthline Wellington team? In 2019, I was a university student in a relatively new city and wanted to be a part of an organisation that shared my values and passions. I’ve always really cared about wellbeing and supporting others, and as I imagine is the case for many young people, supporting peers and navigating my own challenges was a salient experience for me, especially during my teenage years. Youthline was a ‘house hold’ name for me growing up and I can remember seeing Youthline posters all around my intermediate school. So it felt a privilege being welcomed as a communications team member at Youthline Wellington in 2019. What has been the most rewarding experience of volunteering for Youthline Wellington? The most rewarding experience for me has been being a part of spaces where young people share their thoughts and experiences, whether this is on the phones or within workshops and programmes. Feeling the mana of young people in the way they carry themselves and in the stories they share has been a privilege. What are the skills that you aspire to develop during your time with Youthline Wellington? I aspire to continue developing my ability to hold space for and amplifying the voices of others, especially young people and rangatahi. 20 Youthline Wellington In your opinion, what are the most significant challenges that young people face today? Inequality, inequity, and discrimination generates significant disparities and affects so many young people, their family/whänau, and their communities in many ways. I think the resilience, mana, advocacy, and activism of many voices is pushing Aotearoa towards more equitable outcomes. However, we have so far to go as a country to better support young people and rangatahi who have been marginalised by Aotearoa systems. What are your interests outside of Youthline Wellington? Outside of Youthline Wellington, I am studying to pursue a career as a psychologist. I also work part time as a Peer Support Group Facilitator. In Auckland, I am surrounded by my beautiful family and love spending time with them. I’m also getting into reading - a skill that never came naturally to me! I also enjoy writing songs when inspiration strikes, drinking coffee, hanging out with my adorable pets, having belly laughs with friends and watching movies. As a young person, what character strengths did you have that stil impact you today? I think I used to feel a lot of big emotions as a kid and as a young person! As an adult, I am learning to channel that in ways that are helpful for me and what I do. How do you practice self-care? For me, self-care can involve grounding myself in what I am doing and also reflecting on my experiences in a way that is helpful for me. To reflect I like to journal or share my thoughts and feelings with supportive people in my life. Writing songs is also a way to conceptualise and articulate my thoughts and feelings. To ground myself in what I am doing, I like to go on walks, play guitar, play board games, read a book, spend time with close friends and family - any kind of enjoyable activity that makes me feel involved and present with what I am doing. Training Coordinator Report Tui Davies Due to circumstances outside of our control we were unable to run our Youthline Wellington PDP and Formal Training Programme in 2023 in the way we had originally planned to. Although we had significant initial interest from potential participants in the programme, the number of actual applicants was very low so we were unable to proceed. In lieu of a formal training event, we offered two upskilling workshops for existing Helpline counsellors. This included a “Risk management” workshop delivered by clinical psychologist Tui Davies and “Understanding disordered eating” facilitated by clinical psychologist Tjaša Kuštrin. Both events were successful and will be incorporated into our formal training next year. The next training programme for our new intake of Helpline counsellors will commence in April 2024 and our Training Coordinator Tui Davies has already developed a schedule of interesting and valuable workshops. This new formal training format also includes an overhaul and streamlining of the “buddying” process which will facilitate new Helpline counsellors becoming trained as a group on the Helpline in a much quicker fashion. We look forward to next year and anticipate it will be much more successful. Annual Report 2023 Supervisor Report Eleanor Butterworth, Senior Internal Supervisor This year I had the great privilege to step in as the Senior Supervisor, holding the space for group supervisors to meet, support each other, develop our practice collectively and ensure we are able to provide the support Helpline counsellors need to be sustained and safe in their roles. I took over from the incredible Gae, who stepped down after years of dedicated service with Youthline; interesting fact, Gae and I did our original PDP and training together way back in 2001! I want to take a second to thank and acknowledge Gae, Cathy and Marea who all finished with us this year as supervisors, you all left a legacy of wellbeing, accountability and growth in the supervision space. I also want to thank our current supervisors Tui, Nicole and Zoe, you all bring so much wisdom, skill and heart to your roles, our collective supervision practice is much richer for you all. Our focus this year has been on resetting supervision after change, and developing a cadence and agenda for our sessions that suit the work and supervisors currently. This included taking a supervisor centric approach to sessions and mixing our standing items up with areas of development and more informal connection. I look forward to further embedding this approach over the next 12 months. 22 Youthline Wellington Communications Coordinator Report Jonathon Davies The year 2023 has been a remarkable period of change for Youthline Wellington and the Communications team. Nick Brown, our previous Communications Coordinator, left us, and Jonathon Davies took over the role with guidance and wisdom from Daikyn Nuku. They have both learned a lot as they rebuilt the team with some very bright and talented volunteers. We want to recognise the invaluable contributions of Nick Brown, our previous Communications Coordinator, whose efforts laid a strong foundation for our current initiatives. Nick’s dedication and expertise have been instrumental in shaping our communication strategies. Our heartfelt appreciation to Helena Andrews, a committed Communications volunteer, for her outstanding newsletters. Helena’s creativity and passion have added immense value to our outreach efforts, creating engaging content that