Grow a Star

Grow a Star is an innovative, youth mentoring and scholarship programme funded by Home in Place staff that helps young people from disadvantaged backgrounds overcome the financial obstacles that prevent them from following their passion or potential (for sport, music, arts, education).

In households where finances are limited, young people often miss out on the sort of extra-curricular activities that play an important role in enabling them to be their best self or achieve their potential. Funding through Grow a Star encourages generational change by empowering young people to follow their academic, sporting or artistic ambitions.

By enabling young people to pursue their passions, the programme helps foster habits and behaviours that can set young people up for life. It can create a new life trajectory which would otherwise be limited simply because their parent did not have the resources to fund equipment, subscriptions or travel.

The benefits for participants of the  Grow a Star Programme are frequently far broader than the accomplishment of a participant’s short term goals. For many participants, the mentoring or funding to provide equipment or essential resources  available, through the programme represents the first time anyone outside their immediate family has invested  in their abilities or aspirations, or even more importantly, has shown them a genuine pathway towards achieving their goals and aspirations.

Since its launch in Australia in 2012, Grow a Star has assisted more than 200 young people to pursue their academic, sporting or artistic goals. It has been active in New Zealand for the past three years.