One in the Bag for Youth Projkt

The moment we knew we’d all done something pretty special.

Historically, WORD has hibernated for the winter. And it makes sense, right? The weather leaves a lot to be desired in Wellington in terms 2 and 3, and getting out for adventures can be a big ask when your plans can be changed last minute due to an unplanned storm, etc. At the end of term 1, our Leadership team had an inkling from our teenage participants that they weren’t willing to accept a no-WORD winter without a challenge. We started to question our own assumptions, and before long we arrived at our Youth Projkt Group.

The idea was clear and the goal simple: continue to create the same brilliant space WORD offers for our youth in summer, through winter. Since late April, a group of teenagers have been descending upon innermost gardens for a fortnightly Friday catch-up. We began by hosting some evenings that we hoped would foster a keen sense of community and belonging. We were ambitious; by the end of the first meeting we were asking where the teens would want to be supported to go on a co-designed trip with them. The results were varied and brilliant. But we think Brad summarised it best: we’d given them the remote to Netflix, and everything looked worthwhile watching… before you know it, you’ve spent the length of a movie just looking for a movie.

Every great idea has to start somewhere… Scratching heads at our first meet.

We were determined to maintain the momentum with this crew who were beginning to show up religiously on Friday afternoons, remarking it had quickly become “the best part of their week.” There were a lot of boxes to tick: our first away trip needed to take place in the heart of winter, it needed to be able to be planned within a quick timeframe, and it needed to be meaningful.

Liam felt that the magic he and his brother shared as teenagers and best friends was the ability to make an adventure out of nothing. A lot can be achieved either side of a dinner, for example. You could pedal to your dinner destination, your dinner could be cooked outdoors, you could carry your cooking equipment, etc. etc. It was a tidy fit, seeing as one of WORD’s founding value’s is adventure. So, with the goal posts shifted in our head, the Youth Projkt crew set their sights on a Friday night camping trip in Paekakariki to enjoy some local cuisine.

Our teens helped coordinate logistics, and collectively wrote an itinerary and packing lists; the job was looking as good as they come for a WORD instructor! Friday afternoon, we all met Vincent Van-Go (Vinnie V2) for a shuttle up the coast. For our final meet pre-camp, we had practised putting our new Macpac tents up in the hall as we knew we would be arriving in the dark.

First time seeing our sponsored Macpac Duolight tents!

With camp setup and ready to return to post-dinner, we strapped lights to our bikes and made our way through Queen Elizabeth park to enjoy an evening pedal from Paekakariki to Raumati South for fish n chips. The order was impressive… Can you imagine what it looks like to order on a Friday night for 10 growing teens, a Brad and a Liam? Fair to say we made the chippy shops day. When the order arrived, the trick was not to blink… Or else find yourself wrestling for the battered fish you thought had your name on it. Turns out everyone could see their name on the food.

We didn’t want to stoke the excitement too much in case the weather wasn’t right for it, but Brad was most looking forward to getting a bonfire going with the crew. The deal was we all had to pack our favourite dessert to share around the fire, and be prepared to sneak back into the campground afterwards. The wind cooperated and Brad provided. We had a blast sharing this moment with the youth projkt team; it felt like we had arrived at the dream we had all envisaged when we began things 2 months earlier.

It’s always a good time when the marshmallows come out.

Jaggers giant sparklers went down a treat, too.

We crashed in the tents for an expectedly exciting sleep, and recharged for the mornings adventure ahead. The weather we woke up to wasn’t all too inspiring, and the camp ground was proving a hit. So we thought: why rush? Keeping things simple was the whole name of the game! We made our way back to Wellington late morning for some shared Mt Vic laps, before returning to our worlds by lunch time Saturday. It is a smug feeling having a whole weekend and a half left, knowing you’ve already got an adventure up your belt.

In good company, it’s always the simple things that count.

I think we all learnt a valuable lesson over the weekend spent together: if you’re surrounded by great people, and you’ve got smiles on dials, your plans don’t have to be mind-blowing to have a ‘successful’ adventure. We can’t wait to watch this crew grow, personally and as a team. We think there are some good things on the horizon.

Thank you to Macpac again for our brilliant new tents, to Nic for the support, and our Youth Projkt teens for making this weekend one worth looking back on. And remember, you too could be a part of the team! Meet us fortnightly at Innermost Gardens to plan the next big thing with us.