Young volunteers helping restore waterways
A growing partnership between Tauranga conservation charity Outflow Trust and youth-focused organisation Recreate NZ is helping young people gain confidence, skills, community connections and purpose while restoring local waterways and coastlines.
Over the past two school terms, young volunteers from Recreate’s mid-week Moxie Work Experience programmes have been working alongside Outflow crews on environmental projects across the Western Bay.
The work includes beach clean-ups, dune restoration, weeding, planting, microplastic surveys, and preparing native seedlings for future planting projects across the district, the city, and Mount Maunganui.
Outflow founder and CEO Ash Morgan says the charity was created to connect environmental restoration with social support for young people who may be struggling or feeling overlooked.
“We’re a conservation charity focused on the environment and struggling youth,” he says. “We wanted to bring both together to give purpose and restoration for everyone involved.”
Now in its third year, Outflow has expanded from purely environmental projects into programmes designed to help young people move toward employment, education and greater stability. Ash says the organisation deliberately chose not to rely solely on unpaid labour.
“We didn’t want to use volunteers as free labour,” he says. “People are falling through the cracks who never really got a head start in life. We wanted to help create that opportunity.”
Participants work on practical conservation projects while receiving mentoring, workplace preparation, and support with skills such as CV writing and job readiness.
Ash says his own life experiences shaped the charity’s direction.
“I grew up with disability and a troubled background,” he says. “The environment was my healing. That connection with nature helped me, and I wanted to create something that could help others, too.”
The collaboration with Recreate began during the first school term of the year and quickly showed promise.
“The first term was phenomenal,” Ash says. “We learned a lot about the capabilities of the young people involved and how we can better support them.”
Recreate Bay of Plenty programme coordinator Adam Barrett says the Moxie community programme gives young people the chance to build confidence and workplace skills through hands-on volunteering.
Each term, participants spend one day a week working in the community alongside support staff and project leaders.
“It’s mostly conservation work with Outflow,” Adam says. “Beach clean-ups, dune support and restoration projects. But there’s also a big social aspect. A lot of our participants aren’t in full-time work, so getting out, connecting with people and contributing to the community is really meaningful.”
Adam says the partnership has been especially positive because participants can see the direct impact of their efforts.
“They’ve been absolutely fantastic to work with,” he says of Outflow. “There’s good communication, good support and the young people feel appreciated.”
For volunteer Earl Fisher, 30, the programme has provided both practical experience and a deeper understanding of environmental issues.
“We got to learn about the beach environment and how to remove rubbish and weeds,” Earl says. “It’s enjoyable being informed about what goes on with our beaches, and the good work people are doing.”
Participants have also helped sow seeds that will later be replanted as part of wider restoration projects. New participant Alice Sampson, 21, joined the programme this term and says she is already enjoying learning more about conservation and community work.
“I’m hoping to help the environment more and learn different things,” Alice says.
Adam Barrett says the programme is designed to give young people experience they could carry into future employment opportunities.
“The goal is to help them learn skills they can apply in future roles,” Adam says.
Ash Morgan believes the long-term impact could extend well beyond environmental restoration, with many participants gaining skills and confidence that support their future employment, education, and community involvement, illustrating sustainable benefits.
“I think our impact is really high,” says Ash. “We just need a bit more stability and support so we can keep growing and helping more people.”
Both organisations hope increased community awareness will help strengthen support for the programme and encourage more young people to get involved, fostering pride and shared responsibility.
Earl’s advice to others considering joining is simple: “Just give it a go,” he says.
