Congratulations to Mark Johnston for being awarded the Tall Tōtara award at last week’s NZOIA Excellence Awards 2024!

Awarded to a current instructor or guide who personifies ‘excellence in outdoor leadership’. A highly respected role model, someone who has contributed significantly to outdoor education in New Zealand through both work with clients and with aspirant instructors/guides.

Mark exemplifies the highest standards of professionalism, dedication, and passion for the outdoors and our outdoor community. His unwavering commitment to the sector, along with his focus on safety, personal development, and the growth of others, is inspirational to all he encounters. His dedication is evident in every aspect of his work, from solid preparation to his calm, competent, yet enthusiastic approach in the field.

Mark’s career as an outdoor instructor and guide spans almost three decades and he has consistently demonstrated exceptional professionalism. Much of this has been spent at Adventure Specialties Trust. One of his most admirable qualities is his commitment to seeing the best in others. He has a remarkable ability to identify and nurture potential in aspiring instructors and guides, helping them achieve their goals and grow into confident, skilled professionals.

A NZOIA member for over 25 years, he holds multiple NZOIA qualifications, Sea Kayak 2, Bush 1, Alpine 1, Rock 1, and Kayak 1. He is also a qualified raft guide. This reflects his strong technical and instructional skills. His dedication to sustainable environmental practices further underscores his role as a model for others in the field.

Congrats, Mark, you are this year’s Tall Tōtara.

Text by NZOIA
Awards Photo credit: Andy Thompson Photography NZ

Follow us on Facebook, Instagram or Linkedin to keep up to date on the latest news!

The post Congrats Mark Johnston – Tall Tōtara award appeared first on Adventure Specialties Trust.

Congratulations to our CEO, Tim Wills, for being recognised as an Honorary Life Member at the NZOIA Excellence Awards last week!

This award is awarded to a member who personifies the very best combination of an excellent instructor/guide, a high achieving personal performer, and an outstanding contributor to the work and promotion of the association.

Tim Wills has had a significant impact not only on NZOIA and our wider industry, but on countless individuals he has crossed paths with.

A NZOIA member for over 30 years, he has held a raft of both land and water based NZOIA quals: Alpine 2, Bush 2, Rock 2, Kayak 1, Sea Kayak 1.

Tim easily ticks all the boxes for the Life Member criteria: providing a long-term contribution as an Assessor, in governance, on technical committees and through qualification development. No one has been more dedicated to giving their time freely to NZOIA. He completed a term as the NZOIA TSC convenor and then had his arm twisted to stand for the Board. An impressive nine years of service in total!

Tim has spent a lifetime of commitment to adventure, with many years spent working at Adventure Specialties Trust. Whether he’s scaling mountains, riding waves or chasing the wind, he’s always excited and ready for the next outdoor thing!
It’s not only about what he has done, it is about how he has done it, always bouncing with enthusiasm for the next adventure. Tim is always positive, if the weather is marginal his attitude is that it might improve! He empowers others to go beyond what they thought they could do.

A Tall Tōtara recipient in the past, it is with great pleasure that we award honorary life membership to this humble and outdoor fun seeker…Tim Wills!

Text written by NZOIA
Awards Photo credit: Andy Thompson Photography NZ

Follow us on Facebook, Instagram or Linkedin to keep up to date on the latest news!

The post Tim Wills, CEO, awarded NZOIA Life Membership appeared first on Adventure Specialties Trust.

Meri Kirihimete!

I hope this year has been a fulfilling one and now you have some time to relax and enjoy a slower pace. Our staff are looking forward to a well-deserved break and also a slower pace, as we wind down for the year (although I’m sure many of them will go on personal adventures).

As you read this newsletter, you will see that they haven’t been sitting on their laurels and have been facilitating some great adventurous programmes and bringing positive change and experiences to so many.

I am proud of our team, who not only love the outdoor ‘office’ that they work in, but also have a real, genuine care and concern for the people they work with.

We are not just an ‘activity provider’. We use the outdoors to facilitate growth and change. You will have read some of these stories in this newsletter.

On a more personal note, I would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to my mother, who recently passed away at the age of 84, after a well-lived life. She was an extraordinary woman and a selfless servant, quietly touching the lives of many—a fact that became evident during and after her funeral. Her life story was a reminder that our impact can extend far beyond what we may perceive.

We can never truly know the level of influence we have on someone’s life.

This leads us to the Christmas message of hope and goodwill. The story of a baby boy who grew up to influence many and who brought about transformative change in ways that we may never fully comprehend.

May this Christmas be a time of renewed hope and a reminder that our actions can create that transformative change, like my mother did for so many, and as our mahi at Adventure
Specialties Trust continues to do.

So, I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Cheers,

Tim Wills

CEO

The post Christmas message from Tim Wills, CEO appeared first on Adventure Specialties Trust.

Our Christchurch team got together a few weeks ago for a 2-day staff training event (which happens once each term). Instructor Peter described it like this:

“April ran a session up at Sign of the Bellbird on pūrākau [Māori myths and legends], looking at the Māori place names of the local areas that we travel to on our programmes. Then we headed out to Little River and stayed the night there. Then I ran a session on flax weaving, looking at the tikanga [Māori customs] around it and methods of rope-making. Then we had a workshop on how to integrate these learnings into our Adventure Therapy/Adventure With Purpose programmes, before heading back to the office for adrenalin training.”

The post Staff training in Christchurch appeared first on Adventure Specialties Trust.

FAREWELL DAVE! The man, the myth, the legend … After an adventure-filled 10 years, we are sadly saying farewell to Dave, one of our most experienced outdoor instructors and Adventure Therapy facilitators. Dave and his wife, Sophia, and their little ones are heading South to another outdoor adventure job with another amazing organisation. We wish them lots of fun family adventures together in their new home.

Tim, our CEO, has a farewell message:
“Dave, it’s sad to see you go. You have put your heart and soul into the Trust over the last 10 years. You have brought such maturity and wisdom to the organisation. Thanks, Dave, you will be missed. But, as we always say, once you’re part of the whanau, you never really leave!”

Brenda, Dave’s manager, has this to say:
“I’ve known Dave for 3 of his 10+ years working at Ad Specs and have really enjoyed working with him. He is a popular member of staff who is easy to get on with and has a great sense of humour. We get constant positive feedback from the organisations we work with about Dave; how well he connects with the clients he works with and his way of making them feel comfortable, which has meant he has been able to establish rapport easily and help bring positive changes in the lives of many. We will all really miss Dave and wish him and his family all the best.”

The post Farewell Instructor Dave! appeared first on Adventure Specialties Trust.

CONGRATS to our instructors (Isaac, Nat, Oli and Anna S) who have just passed the 3-day NZOIA Bush 1 qualification last week!

Contrary to the name, “Bush 1” is not an easy or entry-level qualification. It is very a challenging assessment that includes off-track hiking, navigation, bird and tree identification, fire lighting, shelter building and a day of instructing and working with a group of participants.

The 4 instructors spent weeks studying for the practical and theoretical tests (plus some have also spent years beforehand, gaining personal experience during their own bush-crashing adventures)

Isaac said afterwards, “The most challenging part was the huge amount of study and prep that we had to do leading up to the assessment. But the most satisfying part was having all that hard work pay off. It was very nice doing this assessment with a group of friends; we were all on the same page, all doing lots of study and prep leading up to this.”

Find out more about NZOIA qualifications on the NZOIA website.

The post Congrats to our instructors on their Bush 1 qualification appeared first on Adventure Specialties Trust.

Five Fun Facts about Andy Balcar, our beloved Christchurch manager!

1. I used to play the Trombone
2. I brew my own beer and recently attempted to make my own beer from all my own home-grown ingredients – I failed
3. I have won 3 x Giant Pumpkin Contests
4. I love riding my bike – especially in the less accessible areas of NZ. I have even played Bike Polo for New Zealand.
5. Mark Johnston (the Safety and Training Manager at Adventure Specialties) and I went to kindy together.

“Current hobbies are biking, rock climbing, skiing (I have recently bought some ski touring gear and hope to get a few days on it this winter), gardening … I strongly dislike painting.

“I did have plans to travel overseas for my 50th but have recently decided I want to Travel more in NZ instead.

“My dad is from England and settled in New Zealand – he was a keen Geographer and loved the outdoors here so was always taking the family on lots of fun adventures – he recently passed, and I have really enjoyed stopping and reflecting on the love of NZ that he has passed onto my brother and I and how I have seen that also in my kids.

“My kids got me back into surfing last summer, and Tarn has gotten me back into climbing when I thought I was well passed it – turns out I am not.

“Dad actually took Mark J and I on an 18-day trip to Queenstown when we were in Year 12 where we did all sorts of fun adventures. (tramped the Milford and Routeburn Tracks, MTB, Climbed up the Remarkables, bungy jumped).

“Looking forward to days in the mountains this year.
Looking forward to my 20th wedding anniversary trip to Rarotonga with my wife.
Looking forward to getting out into the hills with good people.

“A piece of wisdom that I am currently living by – Every day you have is your best day or make the most of it while you have it (especially as I get closer to 50).

“Job title – Christchurch Manager – currently in my 7th Year with Adventure Specialties Trust. Pretty excited with where the Trust is at – with the ongoing development of programmes, we have a great team and a good vison to get there.”

The post Five Fun Facts about Andy, Christchurch manager appeared first on Adventure Specialties Trust.

The post Happy Monday everyone! appeared first on Adventure Specialties Trust.

A whole bunch of Adventure Specialties Trust staff (including instructors, adventure therapy clinicians, contractors, interns and our Safety and Training manager) went on a 5-day “Kayak Block Course” where they got a chance to practice a wide range of kayak-related skills and also programme-related skills (like leading groups, facilitating conversations, etc.). But it looks like they had way too much fun to call it work, don’t you think?!?

The post Photos from Kayak Block Course appeared first on Adventure Specialties Trust.

Our CEO is famous!

Tim Wills stars in a recent Stuff.co.nz article titled ‘How outdoor adventure is a key tool for tackling our mental health crisis’.

Read the article on the Stuff.co.nz website, or keep reading for the copy-and-paste version below:

How outdoor adventure is a key tool for tackling our mental health crisis

Tim Wills is the chief executive of Adventure Specialties Trust a charity using guided, outdoor adventure for community growth and development. Adventurespecialties.co.nz

If you’re like me, your social media feed will be full of gloomy stories about the cost-of-living crisis, crime, and the occasional surfing fail.

We could do with some good news.

I lead Adventure Specialties, the trust that has for the last 40 years helped Kiwis of all ages escape their day-to-day tribulations by connecting to nature.

It truly is the best job. We have the thrill of taking people kayaking, cycling and hiking in Aotearoa’s most beautiful places. And we see moments of transformation as people overcome fear and anxiety.

The trust is founded on the idea that the combination of outdoor adventure and working closely with other people offers a unique context for personal growth and development.

The feedback from clients is incredible.

Here’s what a recent graduate, Jack (not his real name), told us:

“I came home more open to talking with my mum and my nan. I was more open to telling them how I felt about things that were going on with me. I have never been able to do that before … I haven’t been in a physical altercation since camp.

“I am able to turn down cannabis especially at school because I want to stay at school, work on my future and not be a bum. I have more self-control, I have dreams now.

“Because of camp, I have rethought what I want to be. I did think before camp that I wanted to be in a gang but realise now that, in the long term, it’s not going to be good for my life. I would like to work towards opportunities to become a builder. I never thought I would have any other dreams.”

The good news is that Jack’s story is not a one-off.

In recent years, Adventure Specialties Trust has become a leader in an emerging field called Adventure Therapy – an approach to mental health services that combines clinical therapeutic approaches with outdoor activities. Research is showing that Adventure Therapy is as effective as talk-based therapy.

It’s particularly suited to people who prefer not to sit in an office and talk.

A good example is Restore, a partnership with Ministry of Social Development (MSD). Each group has ten adult participants for whom anxiety, depression, stress/burnout or other mental health challenges are preventing them from working.

The programme aims to restore energy, self-worth and hope on their journey towards wellbeing and an eventual return to work, study, or other community involvement.

The group meets with an outdoor instructor and a mental health professional once a week for eight weeks, and each day involves an outdoor activity (like kayaking, mountain biking, coasteering, tree planting) combined with facilitated discussions.

According to our evaluation, the results show a 25% increase in confidence going into new groups of people and a 23% increase in feeling like they have a sense of purpose.

We apply a similar approach to working with youth and adult mental health clients, ACC sensitive claims clients, Māori mental health, Youth Justice, Care and Protection and other community agencies.

And we offer open programmes to anyone wanting to improve their mood with a great day out!

It’s easy to be overwhelmed by bad news. But, as you head into Easter, where themes of suffering and death are followed by hope and recovery, perhaps you can take encouragement that every day, out there, someone is taking a therapeutic step to recovery through outdoor adventure.

And you can too.

Tim Wills

CEO of Adventure Specialties Trust

The post Our CEO is famous! appeared first on Adventure Specialties Trust.