OUR VISION

RQP is an organisation that “empowers rangatahi to thrive.” Our mission is to improve youth wellbeing by giving every young person in Aotearoa the opportunity to create and express themselves through the arts.

Our vision is to empower young people to:

‍Explore - multiple areas of the arts, relationships with peers, and different ways of being an artist

‍Create - belonging, community, communication skills, achievement through participation

‍Inspire - future career pathways in the creative industries, lifelong love of the arts

‍Thrive - contributing to the next generation of empowered, creative, resilient & hopeful young people

“When young people get involved in the arts, other areas of their lives are positively affected, including relationships, social connection and feelings of belonging and being valued, as well as their physical wellbeing, creativity and general feelings of happiness and optimism for the future."

- Dr Molly Mullen, Senior lecturer in applied theatre at the University of Auckland

OUR STRATEGIC PLAN

Short term (0-3 years)
Our focus is on understanding & harnessing the potential of our suite of programmes. This involves expanding our reach, building organisational capability and deepening our impact through sustainable funding and strategic partnerships. We want to identify and remove barriers to access our programmes for students and whānau and increase our youth development impact. We create meaningful, aspirational, human-centric experiences.

Long term (3-10 years)
We understand the importance of looking at the bigger picture and nurturing the unique potential of every young person we engage with. We seek partnerships and collaborations that share this perspective, and can help us to realise our full potential and cement meaningful, ever-lasting impact on the creative industries.

Big Dreams

Developing a fund to cover costs for disadvantaged students fully
Build and run a creative production studio and creative space
Venture into new creative fields/programmes
Expand our reach - 100,000 p/ year participants?
Explore the potential of overseas markets & franchises
Support and facilitate dynamic pathways into sustainable careers in the arts for young people through internships, work placements, industry partnerships and employing alumni ourselves
Commission further research into the correlations between arts, youth participation and well-being to develop our mahi further
Revolutionise how Aotearoa sees the arts & education

Rangatahi may represent 17% of the population but they are 100% of our future (MYD Youth Plan 20-22).

BENEFITS

Being involved in RQP programmes has a wide range of benefits for rangatahi, schools, whānau and the wider community. We measure outcomes through surveying students & schools, focus groups and case studies.

In 2023, to measure our impact, we asked 374 young people involved in our Creative Leadership Development programme to share their experiences with our programmes:‍
‍97% were happy or very happy with the programme they participated in
97% were happy or very happy with the staff and facilitators they interacted with

For rangatahi

Community - building meaningful relationships with peers, having shared experiences and connecting with others
Pathways - mentorship from leaders within the creative industries, learning about sustainable careers in the arts and how to get there, having the arts highlighted as a viable option, having options to explore different “hats” and creative outlets
Leadership - participation is student-led and collaborative
Well-rounded - participation helps to develop interesting, active, curious, creative young people with life experiences
Empathy - students are exposed to different cultures, viewpoints and ideas - helping to develop a deeper understanding of others
School engagement - senior students can gain NCEA credits across a range of subject areas and can engage with innovative education outside the classroom
Hope - Students have a platform to have their voice heard through songwriting, performance, filmmaking and photography and feel recognised and valued for who they are
Experiences - Students get aspirational life experiences e.g. recording at Big Fan with Chris Mac (Six60), attending the WOW show in Wellington, having their film screened at a cinema, behind-the-scenes venue tours at Q Theatre, filming a music video, performing at Spark Arena and featuring on What Now

For schools

Receive recognition for success in the arts on a national scale
School pride - successes are mana-enhancing and build community within the school
Students have a creative and meaningful outlet within school which helps to keep ākonga engaged in schooling
Opportunities for students to develop as leaders
Schools that lack resources to deliver a varied arts curriculum are provided with multiple equitable and accessible options
Delivering a different style of learning for rangatahi with emphasis on “soft skills” and the development of them as people

For whānau and community

Young people can use the stage or screen as their voice and share important messages with their whānau and community
Deepens understanding of diversity within the community - cultures, identities and ideas
Celebrates shared identity within local communities - shared history, whakapapa and lived experiences
Strengthens community pride and togetherness
Contributes to a well-rounded generation of young people