Tired but happy - a group of at-risk teenagers have returned from a three-day expedition in Canterbury's outdoors.
The trip took 13 teens aged 12-15-year-olds, referred by Oranga Tamariki and the police, hiking, cycling and swimming to build their confidence and outdoors skills.
Proud whānau and friends celebrated the teenagers' return at a ceremony and certificate presentation in Mt Pleasant on Thursday.
One mother said she was glad her son was given the chance to go on the trip.
"I think he found it really fun. Hopefully he learnt some tools but he seemed to have had fun and enjoyed it," she said.
"I'm really proud that he's giving these things a go and sort of willing to partake in stuff like these things. I think it helps him feel included."
The outdoor adventure was organised by four NGOs: 180 Degrees Trust, Nga Maata Waka, Youth Cultural Development and Youth Pathways.
The teenagers hiked across the coast, cycled forest trails, climbed boulders and spent the night in a hut on Quail Island, under the supervision of trained outdoors experts.
180 Degrees founding trustee Jeremy Nurse. Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon
Founding trustee of 180 Degrees, Jeremy Nurse, said a lot of the young people had not left their neighbourhood before.
"That's the sort of thing we like to introduce them to and just remind them that there's another world out there. They really don't know what they don't know," he said.
"Most come from troubled backgrounds; there's a lot of drug use, a lot of violence that most of us would never experience or witness."
Nurse said the teenagers learnt to work as a team and look after one another on the outdoor trips.
180 Degrees executive director David Decastro. Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon
He said they had moving moments - an example being a night on a past trip where the teenagers had to go around the group and thank someone else for something they had done that day.
"So this particular young fella, a girl said 'such and such helped me get my coat out of the pack when it started raining and helped me put it on', and he burst into tears.
"He said that was the first time anyone has ever said something nice about him," he said.
One of the trip's leaders, 180 Degrees executive director David Decastro, said it was wonderful to see the rangatahi grow and change.
"These sorts of kids they have I guess a lot of bravado, and part of that is a group dynamic. What is fantastic is when you get them out into nature, quite often they melt away to kids," he said.
"Out in this environment they want to explore, they want to go and have a look at things."
The Minister for Children Karen Chhour presented their certificates. Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon
The Children's Minister Karen Chhour presented certificates to the teenagers.
"Our young people deserve the best in life and deserve to become the best that they can be. And programmes like this, whilst it may seem small, make a massive difference in the lives of our young people," she said.
Oranga Tamariki acting chief executive Andrew Bridgman said the trip had been a great opportunity for the young people.
"Any initiative that positively helps intervene in a child's life to help them through their challenges is a really good thing and I admire this initiative.
"It's quite bespoke. It identifies what the specific challenges are with children and then gives them an experience that is going to help get them through these challenges," he said.
After the ceremony the young adventurers rested their legs and celebrated with a well-deserved barbecue.
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