An ongoing personal and professional commitment to supporting rangatahi, which all started with the NZ Defence Force’s Longest Day, culminated in a prestigious award this week for Senior Constable Glenn Dawson.
Glenn, a Canterbury-based Youth Aid Officer, was awarded the Minister of Defence Award for Excellence for Outstanding Contribution to the Limited Service Volunteer (LSV) Programme at the 2023 Tohu Awards held at the Public Trust Hall in Wellington.
When asked how he felt about winning the award, Glenn says initially he felt a bit embarrassed. (You can watch more of Glenn's reaction in the video below)
“You don't do it for recognition,” Glenn explains. “You do it because you know the course is good, it works, it gets results – and I just want other people to know about it."
Glenn’s involvement with LSV, a six-week motivational training course for young people run by the New Zealand Defence Force, started when he made a snap decision to give the Longest Day a go in mid-2020.
“I just thought it looked interesting, so I put my hand up,” says Glenn. “Once I got out there and saw what it was all about, I just wanted to help out more and it has kept sucking me back ever since.”
Glenn has been a full-time Police mentor on the course twice and dedicated many hours of his own time to the programme and its participants.
“Everyone on the course has a story to tell,” says Glenn, “and there are common themes that run through many of them – alcohol, drugs, firearms, gangs, violence and negative interactions with Police.”
Of all the trainees he has worked with, Glenn says one of the stories that has stuck with him is that of someone who told the group at the start of the course that they’d lived in 19 different homes.
“They were only 21 years of age,” says Glenn. ”How can you settle, how could you have any routine or normality in your life going from home to home, pillar to post?”
After their respective LSV courses, both trainees went on to make positive changes in their lives and Glenn says he feels extremely proud of any part he may have played in those changes.
LSV isn’t just for troubled rangatahi, some complete the course as a leadership opportunity. It is tough, physically and mentally, and those who make it to the end leave with confidence, new skills, strong friendships and excitement for the future.
Glenn says the success of the programme is not just due to the content, but the way it’s delivered – by military personnel and external agencies.
“It’s pretty incredible what they can achieve in such a short timeframe, just six weeks.”
Since his first taste of LSV, Glenn has gravitated towards supporting young people in his Police role and personally.
“It’s changed the way I interact with young people especially on the side of the road. Now, instead of rushing in, I take a step back and slow down. I’ll wait for them to calm down, for their brains to move from the red zone to the green zone, and then I’ll talk about what’s going on and why.”
Glenn also runs an annual charity relay to raise funds for the I Am Hope Foundation and is heavily involved in supporting young women cricketers.
“Some of our young people are really broken. They’ve a lot of negative stuff going on in their lives, mostly through no fault of their own. I just want to help.”