THE Y

In the spirit of Lady Fisher’s inspiring legacy, The Y is committed to her mission – ‘to transform New Zealand into a better place by empowering its young citizens with opportunities that enhance their leadership skills and values’. With our own strongly aligned mission, The Y is in the noble pursuit of building communities, nurturing role models, and fostering future leaders. 

We believe in the limitless potential of youth and strive to provide them with enriching activities that elevate and broaden their horizons, all without the worry of financial constraints. The Y isn’t just working towards a better New Zealand, we’re shaping the leaders of tomorrow. We invite everyone to join us on this exciting journey!

Fee Assistance

It is our aim that no person willing, but unable, to pay will be denied access to Y programmes or services. The Y is committed to ensuring opportunities for all.

We believe that participation in any of our programmes and services should not be restricted to the financially privileged. Through Fee Assistance, we will make healthy lifestyles accessible to all people.

Fee Assistance is available across all of our programme areas, from Kids’ basketball to swimming lessons, from workouts in our gyms to early learning, for individuals, families, or groups. It can be used to provide free access to programmes and membership or can provide partial subsidy dependent on the individual’s ability to pay.

Send a School to Camp

Through Send a School to Camp we make school camp a reality for deserving schools and children. We believe that school camps should be a right, not a privilege, for Kiwi kids, so we hard to make it happen for as many schools as possible. Through Send a School to Camp we work to send school groups to our camps who would not otherwise be able to afford it. School camps are a rite of passage for Kiwi kids, and we believe that no one should miss out on the character building experience of a school camp.

Sadly, the reality is that many schools are missing out on the opportunity to bring their students to camp as they struggle to raise funds. Financial pressures mean many families and schools are simply unable to attend school camp. Send a School to Camp helps to remove the financial barriers for low income schools and gives school children a life-enhancing experience at YMCA camps.

Raise Up

Raise Up is our youth development programme which is run by youth for youth. It offers teenagers an empowering environment to learn the resilience and skills they need to navigate today’s world. The aim of Raise Up, The Y’s youth development programme, is to empower young people by providing a safe and healthy environment in which to thrive and achieve their goals and socialise.

We help youth develop the skills and confidence they need to reach their potential, and give young people the tools to organise community building events and life-skills workshops for thousands of teenagers across Auckland. Support from Joyce Fisher Charitable Trust helps us to empower our Raise Up teens and give young people the confidence to chase their dreams. 

Raise Up began in 2002 with a focus on social activities for large groups into an in-depth youth development programme, teaching leadership, self-awareness, and resilience, not only supporting the young people in the programme, but through them, building up their peers and connecting people to specialist support when needed. From a single location in Massey, West Auckland, it has now spread throughout New Zealand.

Raise Up fosters a sense of pride and respect for our youths and the communities in which they live in, through personal ownership and leadership development.

The Y is committed to supporting our rangatahi, we believe in the limitless potential of youth and strive to provide them with enriching activities that elevate and broaden their horizons, all without the worry of financial constraints. This aligns strongly with the spirit of Lady Fisher’s inspiring legacy – ‘to transform New Zealand into a better place by empowering its young citizens with opportunities that enhance their leadership skills and values’. The Y isn’t just working towards a better New Zealand, we’re shaping the leaders of tomorrow.

Sports Camps

Joyce Fisher Charitable Trust’s support enables 1,300 young people from South Auckland to access an awesome opportunity at our annual Sports Camps. We deliver four week-long Sports camps at the Y Camp Adair each year, and these camps are an awesome initiative for our South Auckland community. Generations of Aucklanders have made lifelong memories at Camp Adair, and attending school camp is a rite of passage for kiwi kids. However, financial barriers mean many South Auckland schools miss out on this important opportunity. 

There is also a significant deficit in opportunities for South Auckland kids to get active and take part in inter-school sports competitions, therefore, working with local schools we developed the intermediate sports camps delivered in South Auckland for South Auckland to address this need. Sports Camps aims to increase participation for tamariki and rangatahi who have limited opportunities to experience sports and school camps, and to get more kids from high deprivation communities more active by reducing financial barriers.  

The Joyce Fisher Charitable Trust has been vital to supporting the growth of our causes, and their generosity has been gratefully received and put to good use. Currently, the Trust’s funding supports Raise Up youth development in South Auckland as well as the delivery of the South Auckland intermediate schools’ sports camps. 

We would like to thank the Trust for their valuable support of our mahi. Without the support of Joyce Fisher Trust, many of these valuable opportunities to improve the lives of others would not be available.