The Whakatane Action for Youth is looking for event ideas to fund to keep the summer fun times rolling in January.

The Youth Activity Fund aims to provide funding for activities to keep our young people busy and engaged.

The Whakatane Action for Youth is looking for substance free events for fund.

Coordinator of the youth activity fund Rebecca Young says they are aiming to fund events for 12-18 from Whakatane.

It's for events at the end of summer, around January 15-30.

'The reason they have done that is because summer is winding down, people are coming back from their holidays and going back to work, and the summer events calendar gets a bit low.

'The kids have nothing to do, so it's a great time for events for kids. The idea is that it's a substance free event, which is why Whakatane Action for Youth was set up – to provide substance free events for our kids.”

Rebecca says the centre did a bit of a survey and the lack of substance free events for kids was red flagged as something the kids were a bit concerned about.

'The fact that every time they went somewhere, there was always drinking and drugs.

'We're taking applications now and applications close on December 2. It's up to $2000 for your summer event,” says Rebecca.

'We want to get as many as we can in and get people thinking about what they can do.”

The Youth Activity Fund is supported by the Bay Of Plenty District Health Board and Ministry of Health as a form of early prevention and intervention for youth around substance abuse.

WAY aim to support local events centered on increasing participation in education, training and employment, reducing alcohol and drug use, offending and truancy.

Funding cannot be used for private parties, sports groups or salaries, and approved funding will be reimbursed after the project is completed, on receipt of invoices and a report (easy to use templates are provided by the office).

Applications are now available from the WAY website http://www.way.net.nz/news/funding-applications-now-available-for-youth-activities/.