“What better way to be youth-focused than to be youth-led with young people at the helm.”
It was Wellington on a good day in January 2013: one of those rare summer days when the West Wind turbines could only lilt languidly in the soft breeze, one of those indigo days that faded gradually to a southern horizon interrupted only by the hazy undulations of the South Island, the type of day that you either want to be on your bike or in the sea.
Makara Peak was buzzing with the sound of riders swooping through the regenerating native forest, the pioneer plantings now part of a key ecosystem populated by tui, kaka, and kereru after a century's accumulation of gorse, broom, and barberry. It was a perfect day for the first-ever WORD ride, so Ash Peters set off, 11 girls in tow like a Whio guiding a gaggle of ducklings expertly down a fast-flowing river.
“I was excited. It was sharing the outdoors with these young people,” Ash said. “They loved it. I don't know who had more fun, me or the girls.”
Ash first had the idea for WORD after organising a children's triathlon while working as an outdoor programmes and events manager at the Wellington City Council.
“I realised the day of the event was my most favourite day of that project: the day spent with kids, joining in with their joy. But I spent 90 per cent of my time in an office in the lead up to the
