TINA jones

Director/Counsellor/Co-Founder

Tina is a registered practitioner with many years of experience working with youth in crisis. She has spent eight years working with Victim Support and the New Zealand Police, as part of the suicide bereavement team. Tina dedicated her career to working with our young people after witnessing first-hand the tragic deaths of far too many young people to suicide and the devastating effects on their families and friends.

Having discovered there were far too many young people in our community who were suffering and in need of quality and timely support services, Tina, co-founded Youth in Transition Charitable Trust, in 2014 to improve the wellbeing and mental health of young people and to help them get back into a life worth living.

BRIGITTE WINDSOR

Trustee / Co-Founder

Brigitte has 35 years’ experience in the insurance industry and is currently the National Domestic Manager for Rothbury Insurance. She volunteers to train people in the community to become successful Youth Mentors. Brigitte has mentored many young people over the last six years; which she has found incredibly rewarding.  She also serves on the board of Hibiscus Coast Blue Light team and facilitates the Empathy Support Group in Orewa, a support group for people who have lost loved ones to suicide. 

Brigitte lost her son George aged 19, to what was deemed to be an accidental suicide. It is her wish through the Trust, to provide a clear pathway to help and support for young people who are struggling.  She has two other children, Grant and Sarah who have witnessed far too many young friends struggling with depression, anxiety and suicidal ideation. Brigitte believes Youth in Transition provides the solution to those who have nowhere to go and no-one to listen to them.  She has immense empathy and passion for young people trying to navigate a world that is unlike anything her generation experienced. 

ANDREW HOGGARD

Chairperson

Andrew has over 34 years’ experience in the dental supply industry. Andrew’s
career includes general management, Managing director and Sales leadership
positions. He emigrated to Australia to take up the Operations Manager role with
Halas Dental and then later became the General Manager of that company. In
2006, Andrew was responsible for leading the national sales activities of Henry
Schein Halas in Sydney. He continued for 2 years as Training and Business
Development Director effective January 2013 where the opportunity to speak to
over 2000 people took flight. 
He now runs his own sales training and speaking business and volunteers for
Youth in Transition. Andrew is particularly passionate for the success of the
Journey Back to Awesome and the team of counsellors. He has been a supporter
since 2017. He believes strong communities and families are a clear pathway to
the success of Youth in Transition.

MERV HUXFORD

Trustee/Accountant

Merv Huxford, ATAINZ, BSc, RFA, is an accountant and professional trustee who has
practised in Orewa since 1979. He has five children and 13 grandchildren. He is a past
president of both the Rotary Club of Orewa, the Rotary Club of Maungaturoto and has also
been a past Rotary District Governor of Auckland Northland Pacific. 
 
Merv was the founding chair of the Life Education Trust Rodney, the MetroPark
Development Working Group and the Hockey Hibiscus Trust, developing the complex at
Millwater. He is a trustee of several charitable trusts and many family trusts and a life
member of North Harbour Hockey Association and the Hibiscus Dairy Flat Hockey Club. He is
also a recipient of the Hockey New Zealand Gold Service Award and holds a Certificate of
Meritorious Service from the global Rotary Foundation. 
We are delighted to benefit from Merv’s wealth of charity experience and his wisdom in
governance. He has also been instrumental in assisting us with several extremely successful
fund raising projects.

NIGEL RIGG

Founding Chair person (2014-2018)

Sadly, on the 25th September 2018, we lost our Chairman Nigel Rigg after a long battle against cancer.

Nigel was so much more than our Chair – he was our beloved friend, tireless champion and humble benefactor. We are deeply honoured that Nigel was such a big part of this project, very hands on, giving so much of his time in helping vulnerable young people to turn their life around.

He was a man of substance and his tremendous courage to face any challenge made him a formidable presence, which will be sorely missed. He lived and breathed his passions, and we at Youth in Transition feel very privileged to have been one of them.

Our young people drew great strength from Nigel; here was a man fighting for his life whilst they wanted to give up theirs. It is through his dedication and commitment, that we have been able to help hundreds of local youth find a way back to a life worth living.

Nigel leaves an amazing legacy, we remember him with immense gratitude and are determined the incredible work he has started will live on.

ROGER HILL

Trustee

Roger has a wide experience in Corporate Management roles, managing small-medium size businesses in the private and public sectors. Included in his career highlights are 10 years in the NZ Wine industry, 10 years with NZI Corporation and subsidiaries, and CEO of Canteen, the teenage cancer charity. Roger brings to YIT a depth of experience in Governance roles in Sports and Arts and recently helped create The Mangawhai Opportunity Factory whilst living in Mangawhai. This experience has been invaluable in shaping and developing The Hope Shop in Manly which donates all its profits to Youth in Transition. In addition, Roger has been instrumental in forging connections with youth in Transition and local and national Government to explore constructive avenues to partner together in the future. He has a heart for community with a personal investment into Prison visiting, Youth Mentoring and Cricket coaching and administration.

Rogers business background and connections on the Hibiscus coast have meant that many hands and doors across the community have opened to us. We are particularly grateful for his commitment and tenacity in getting things done and being willing to serve on the board.

Roger is married to Gill for 48 years and has three sons and six beautiful grandchildren. He has three brothers and has Maori, English and Scottish ancestry with strong interests in cricket ,current affairs, history and family.

garth bradford

Trustee

Garth is a former senior executive with extensive experience in the highly competitive, fast moving consumer and healthcare environment. He was the Managing Director for an importer and distributor of dental, medical, pharmacy and beauty care products.  He is also the current director of Regional Health Limited, Stoneville Holdings Limited, and Macro Health Limited.

Amongst Garth’s honours and achievements are recognitions of life membership to the Medical Technology Association of NZ, an honorary member of the NZ Dental Association and he also served as president of the NZ Dental Industry Association for 3 terms. Outside of the corporate arena, Garth is an active sportsman with a lifelong passion for rowing. He is a former national champion and has held coaching and administration positions at club, school, and national level. Recently Garth was a gold medallist at both NZ & Australian Masters Rowing Championships and a Gold medallist at recent Henley Masters Regatta (July 2019). He also enjoys active participation in golf and masters rowing. Garth also sits on the Executive Board of West End Rowing Club.

Garth is instrumental in several key areas for Youth in Transition. He has been a strong part of the success of our recent ‘Golf Fore Life’ fundraisers. He works tirelessly behind the scenes ensuring our facility always operates efficiently, goes the extra mile with kindness and support to the counselling team and brings a depth of business experience to the board. He is passionate about reducing our shocking statistics of youth suicide in NZ. Garth is married to Laura and they have two children, Mia (21) and Thomas (17).

SANJAY KUMARASINGHAM

Trustee/Planning Advisor

Sanjay is  charted professional engineer with extensive facility management, project management and environmental management experience. He completed his schooling at Wellington College & qualified as an Environmental Engineer from Massey University. He works as a Technical Manager for Watercare Services Ltd and is now based in Sydney. He is married with 2 children. 

Sanjay is a recognised communicator and has facilitated many technical , community and leadership forums. We are delighted to benefit from his expertise as he is responsible for developing the strategic focus of the Trust along with promoting good business practice. 

Sanjay is passionate about seeing our young people reach their full potential and in his other role donates hours of his time in teaching mindfulness and meditation skills to our young people, helping them to manage stress and overcome their anxiety. 

ESTELLE LLOYD

Counsellor and Mental Health Advisor

Estelle has over 20 years of experience as a psychotherapist and extensive experience of working in private practice and in agency settings. The agency work has consisted of work with Whaiora/clients in multi-disciplinary settings such as community residential NGO, and residential inpatient settings within the mental health services in positions as a clinician, clinical supervisor and Care-Co-ordinator. She has been employed for the last 10 years as a counsellor and Mental Health Advisor in a tertiary educational setting providing support to mainly young people. Her private practice work has included work for ACC in Sensitive Claims Recovery work. Her specialty areas include Anxiety, Depression, Trauma Recovery, Mental Health Support, cultural adjustment, interpersonal issues, identity issues and grief. She has trained in a number of modalities such as CBT, DBT, SFBT, Interpersonal Psychotherapy, TA and Psychodynamic Psychotherapy and has particular interest in the application of Mindfulness approaches and working with Immigrants, the Indian population and applying the principles of Bi-Cultural practice to her Mahi.

MICHAEL LEATHART

Counsellor

Michael Leathart

I am proud to be part of the counselling team at Youth In Transition. Working to make a difference in the lives of young people has always been a passion and my previous experience of mentoring, coaching, building character and leadership skills have contributed to my chosen profession. My ancestry is a mixture of Māori (Ngāti Pāhauwera from Hawke’s Bay), Chinese and Pākehā. As a counsellor, it is a privilege to work alongside young people and their whānau on their journey towards wellness. I have a Bachelor of Health Science in Counselling and am a provisional member of the New Zealand Association of Counsellors.

GRAYSON NIPPER

Youth Mentor

Grayson has been a part of Youth In Transition for many years. Along with many others he has been busy building and painting in the old offices and the new, to make them a fun place for young people to feel at home and at ease.

He is a youth mentor for Youth In transition and helps young people suffering from depression and anxiety, as well as doing his best not to swear too much.

He also manages the website and database-booking systems, and realizes many opportunities to practice his patience while helping the counselling team.

HANNAH LONGLEY

Youth Mentor/Therapist

Hannah has been working with Youth in Transition as a youth mentor since early 2017. She has completed studying Psychotherapy (child and adolescent) at AUT and has a bachelor’s Degree in health science (Psychology major) and a Certificate in Health Science.

To be able to help in this capacity is such a privilege and is so rewarding, says Hannah. I have really valued the time I have had with this wonderful charity. I knew I wanted to work in adolescent mental health after realising during my own adolescence the lack of support there is available at this time.

JANE HOLLIS

Clinical Services Support Coordinator

Kia ora As part of the Youth in Transition team I have 20 years experience as a Social Worker and Counsellor in various agency settings.I have a Diploma in Counselling and Diploma in Social Work, and am a Registered Social worker.My experience with young people is in mental health, the disability sector and family harm.I am passionate about supporting children, young people and their whanau.I have a support role at Youth in Transition, but also provide counselling with young people.I use a variety of client centred, therapeutic approaches when counselling.I value positive self-worth, hope, inclusion, collaboration, confidentiality, and cultural diversity.