OUTDOOR ACTIVITY FUND CASE STUDY
YOUTH OUTDOORS Encouraging our tamariki and rangatahi to engage with the outdoors is vital for their development. There is plenty of opportunity for them to learn, grow, and connect. Outdoor education has countless, proven, benefit and in Aotearoa we are lucky to have an abundance of exciting outdoor environments. There are many groups out there whose main goal is to give youth the chance to experience the outdoors and push their limits. In this case study we will look at three organisations from our 2019/2020 Outdoor Activity Fund (OAF), who support youth to get outdoors and how they do it.
THE OAF PROJECTS WORKING WITH YOUTH Youthtown - Ocean to Mountain Challenge Youthtown is a nationally operated, non-profit, dedicated to developing and empowering young New Zealanders through a range of youth programmes. The Ocean to Mountains Challenge is an initiative targeted at young Pasifika people in low socio-economic areas. The programme is about increasing opportunities for youth to experience nature in an authentic and meaningful setting. In this iteration of the project, Youthtown ran two outdoors camps for Pasifika youth in Canterbury.
Te Waiariki Purea Trust - Te Arawa Journey Te Waiariki Purea Trust (TWPT) are a non-profit offering youth and family services within the Te Arawa rohe (Bay of Plenty). Their work revolves around supporting people to be active in their communities, achieve in education, be culturally connected, and engage with their whÄ nau. Te Arawa Journey seeks to develop rangatahi into leaders and encourage understanding of oneself and one's whakapapa through outdoor activities and challenges. Over four weekends TWPT and their group of rangatahi embarked on a trip toward self-discovery and self-learning.
Photo courtesy of Youthtown
Outward Bound - Southern Cross Course Outward Bound is an outdoors pursuit organisation who have been running outdoor adventure programmes since 1962. Based in Marlborough Sounds Outward Bound aims to uncover the true potential of our communities through experiential outdoor learning. The Southern Cross course, is a longstanding 21-day course designed to enable young people of all nationalities to connect and explore their identities through the outdoors.
"As a young refugee I never thought that I would get a chance to do something like Outward Bound and now that I have this chance I am not going to waste it." - Vira (Outward Bound particpant)