Youth Hub Christchurch embarks on rooftop urban farm project as it marks second birthday

Youth Hub Christchurch – Te Hurihanga ō Rangatahi – marks its second birthday on Friday 30 October with a youth performance showcase, and the announcement of its next project: a rooftop urban farm opening in 2027.

“These rooftop gardens are about more than growing kai. More importantly, they will give rangatahi a place to build confidence, learn practical skills and feel part of something bigger than themselves, and that can change the direction of a life,” says Dame Sue Bagshaw, Chair of the Youth Hub Trust.

The rooftop urban farm will be managed by Cultivate Christchurch – a local youth development provider that supports young people not in education, employment or training through hands-on horticulture programmes.

Co-founder Fiona Stewart says: “Young people do their best talking when their hands are in the soil. A rooftop farm in the heart of the city lets us offer real work experience and a place to belong, right where young people are already getting support, and we’re thrilled to be growing it alongside the Youth Hub team.”

The rooftop farm will feature bee hives and planter boxes for a range of fruit and vegetable crops, including several accessible planters for wheelchair users. Produce, including honey from the beehives, will be shared with young people living at the Hub and sold to the community as a fundraising initiative.

As the Youth Hub is an intensely developed urban site, the rooftop gardens also help to achieve the required 30% permeable area for stormwater mitigation, while maximising usable outdoor space.

The farm is the latest addition to the growing Youth Hub Christchurch campus. Since opening, the Hub’s supported housing wing, delivered in partnership with the Christchurch Methodist Mission, has provided safe, stable housing for more than 70 young people at risk of homelessness.

The Hub’s youth services building is nearing full occupancy, with 16 youth organisations providing wraparound support from its offices and meeting rooms. The outdoor courtyard is open daily as a safe, supportive place for young people to gather, and the Events Centre is fast becoming a go-to venue for youth events in the central city. Overall, the Hub delivered close to 8,000 interactions with young people in the 2025/2026 financial year.

The Hub continues to fundraise for its remaining stages: a drop-in centre with kitchen, laundry and shower facilities for young people and their whānau; creative arts spaces; a training café; youth apartments; and garden areas.