Recreation Aotearoa have opened applications for the Outdoor Activity Fund and are encouraging outdoor activity and education providers around Aotearoa to apply.  

Managed and distributed on behalf of Sport NZ, the fund seeks to increase participation of rangatahi (young people) in outdoor recreation and connect more rangatahi to their Māori culture through outdoor activity.

Recreation Aotearoa CEO, Andrew Leslie, says: “Having access to the outdoors is a special part of living in Aotearoa but not everyone has the opportunity to take advantage of this. This fund seeks to support organisations to bridge that gap.”

Worth up to $1.5M over three years, this is the fifth pool of Outdoor Activity funding made available by Recreation Aotearoa. It has a special focus on rangatahi Māori and non-Māori rangatahi from higher deprivation communities, as young women, and disabled young people.  

The funding will be split across the two focus groups with at least 50% of the total funding allocated to programmes engaging rangatahi Māori, and applicants can apply for multi-year projects.

“We are keen to fund outdoor activity providers who can show that they understand rangatahi, and who can take an innovative and culturally sensitive approach to new programme design. Not all communities and cultures go outdoors for the same reasons. The goal is to get people outdoors and to do so in a way that resonates with them,” says Andrew.  

Applications are open until 29 May 2022 and can be submitted online.

For more information, or to apply for the fund, please visit the Recreation Aotearoa website.