Online Support - Kaitautoko Tuihono
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Get yourself someone who is on your side. Get yourself an Ally. The Allies are young adults trained to be supportive, respectful, and help you work out what you want in life.
You get your own person who is there for you. They check in several times a week so see how you are, and tell you how great you are. Cause you are. The Allies can only support young people between 12 to 16. |
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Kia ora, I'm Sarah. I can can link you up with one of our great Allies. They are a team of senior students. An Ally is someone who is on your side. It's all done right on your mobile phone using Skype Messenger. |
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As your Ally, we can keep in touch throughout the week. I'm here to listen, care, show respect, and hopefully brighten up your day. I'm interested in where you want to go in the future, and how to get there. |
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The Allies is about young people supporting young people. We are all young or youngish ourselves, and do this in our spare time. I'm lucky enough to get to know a great girl in Timaru. |
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We have been trained by Youthline, and work to a code of ethics - based on showing you respect and positive support. We are supervised. We were selected because we are friendly, emotionally mature, don't judge and do care about others. |
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You need to be between 12 and 16 years old, and like messaging. You'll also need a device (smartphone is best), and access to wifi. |
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Anymore questions. Check out the frequently asked questions below. Mauria te pono. |
The Allies Digital Mentoring programme is kindly sponsored by the Vodafone Foundation and the Ministry of Youth Development
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Frequently asked Questions
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Who actually are the Allies?
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The allies are young adults who volunteer their time for Youthline. They are safety checked, trained and supervised.
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Do I get to choose an Ally?
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We will present you with two potential allies that would be a good match for you based on a number of factors including similar interests. You will then be able to choose between the two allies.
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Are the conversations with my Ally confidential?
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The conversations between you and your Ally are confidential within Youthline unless your Ally has serious concerns about the safety of yourself or others around you.
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Do I have to get permission?
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We do need you to give us a parent or caregiver’s phone number or email address so we can call them to ask for their permission to set you up with an Ally.
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How will I be chatting to my Ally?
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We will set you and your Ally up with your own Skype accounts where you will be free to chat to one another.
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Can I see my Ally in real life?
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Unfortunately this is an online support programme where your Ally is only able to chat to you online using the skype app and through the accounts Youthline have created for both of you.
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How long will I be set up with my Ally for?
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Your Ally is there to support you for as long as you need them, up a year. After that, it is up to you and the Ally on whether you want to keep going or not.
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What happens if I don’t want an Ally anymore?
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If you don’t need the support of your Ally any longer or aren’t feeling like you and your Ally are a good match then that’s all good, just let us know! You may also get given the option to be matched with a different Ally if you’d like.
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