Southern Youth Development

Join us for the final celebration of Southern Development 🎉 Share your memories, laughs, and stories! We'll have an open mic for anyone to make a short speech about syd! See you Friday!

The end of a truly special era. 💔

Today, we officially close the chapter on Gardens @ syd, a cornerstone programme that ran for over fifteen profound years.

This was so much more than a maintenance crew; it was a launchpad. Gardens @ syd (formally Gardens @ malcam) was the foundation where many rangatahi took their crucial first step into the working world, earning money and gaining the real-world skills and confidence to succeed. The dedication shown by our young people and the resulting success - with the vast majority moving directly into other employment - is the lasting legacy of this incredible journey.

We are profoundly grateful to the Dunedin City Council Gardens team at the Dunedin Botanic Garden for their invaluable, long-term partnership, and to every supervisor who mentored, guided, and championed our young people. Most importantly, thank you to all the dedicated trainees who poured their effort and heart into this programme. Your growth is our greatest pride.

Please take a moment to look through the attached photos of the names and dates of everyone who worked in the program, starting from 2008. Tag someone you remember or yourself!

Thank you, Gardens @ syd, for over fifteen years of unforgettable impact. You will be deeply missed.

Our amazing Alternative Education ākonga spent the morning out at Tomahawk Lagoon helping Tomahawk Smaills BeachCare Trust with some tree planting!