Photo: RNZ/Cosmo Kentish-Barnes
FarmHand connects young people with permanent work or further education through hands-on outdoor work experience.
The 9-week intensive course is run by the Malcam Trust, a youth-focused training provider based at the former Kaituna Bowling Club in Dunedin.
Students get their hands dirty working on a variety of conservation, horticultural and farming projects. They are taught survival skills and how to grow food and look after a market garden. The students are also given lessons in construction and basic carpentry.
The course is aimed at 16-25 year olds and is free to those who take part. Programme co-ordinator Jethro Schreuder says young people are accepted from all walks of life. "I get students who don't read and write or can't sit still, to students who've been great at school and are better at maths and physics than I'll ever be!"
The next course starts on July 23rd.
