Malindi MacLean
Tēna Koutou, it has been a privilege to join this incredibly special organisation. Since starting in February, I have spent time with our team, our supporters, and our students, and I have been so impressed by how the entire Outward Bound whānau lives and breathes our Kaupapa.
We continue to operate in a COVID environment. We cannot run courses at alert Level 3 and 4, so each time there has been an outbreak it requires a huge effort from the team to change courses, rebook students, and in some cases, get students home within a very short timeframe. We are learning to be adaptable and responsive and are grateful to our supporters and students who have worked alongside us as we face these disruptions.
Despite the challenges of COVID, Outward Bound is in good shape and the team is looking to the future. It’s a credit to our staff and the leadership of my predecessor Victor Klap, that there is solid strategic direction in place and that over the last 12 months there have been some significant highlights.
Our Adapted Programmes delivered a number of successful firsts. In May, we partnered with the Athlete Leadership Programme run by Special Olympics NZ to welcome identified leaders on an 8 day Horizons course. This global programme creates opportunities for athletes to take on leadership opportunities within their sports clubs and wider communities.
In another first, in January we welcomed a group of intellectually disabled rangatahi, to complete the inaugural Youth Horizons five day course. The course ended on a huge high with the group paddling themselves in the waka from Anakiwa to Picton for course finish.
In locations near Nelson and Gisborne we have delivered short professional courses to work groups, and seen outstanding results. It has been exciting to prove that we can deliver to professionals in locations other than Anakiwa. We are seeing our corporate partners increasingly search for the impact our professional development courses offer. It’s clear we have a strong point of difference by meeting both their development needs, and their commitment to contribute to a social cause.
Now in its second year of pilot, the OBNZ Kora Programme in the Wellington region has worked with four schools and seen over two hundred students benefit from the local, community-based programme. The challenges of doing something new has taught us plenty about working outside of Anakiwa, delivering to a different age group and in a non-residential setting.
The Kora team have done an outstanding job of embracing the challenge of working in a new environment. Most importantly they’ve upheld the Outward Bound legacy of delivering exceptional student experiences and outcomes.
Demand for courses continues to be high across the board, with New Zealanders of all ages prioritising their personal development and wellbeing more than ever before at this time of crisis. We were delighted to celebrate our ‘oldest’ student Robert Waldron on our September Aspire course. At 84 years old it's clear, age really is just a number and certainly for some, no barrier to attending Outward Bound.
We collect a large amount of data on our student's experience which consistently tells us that we are achieving what we set out to, and over the last 12 months these have maintained record high levels. But it’s the student stories that sit behind this data that give testament to why we do what we do. I hope the inclusion of some of these stories in this report gives you as much joy as it does me.
Thanks to our incredibly generous partners and donors and alongside investment from the Outward Bound Foundation, young New Zealanders from all walks of life have the opportunity to realise their full potential. This vital support ensures that financial hardship is no barrier to attending an Outward Bound course. I am humbled by the way our supporters not only believe in our rangatahi, but are willing to invest in them. Thank you.
Our students are reporting increasing challenges to their wellbeing. Through our pre-course screening process, we are seeing the impacts of the COVID pandemic, the environmental crisis as well as rising mental health issues. I am struck by how we are uniquely placed to respond to these challenges and have never been more relevant.
As we look to the future, we must confront some existential challenges. Our foundation helped us through the COVID crisis, but our current reliance on its support is not sustainable. How do we protect this asset for future generations? New Zealand society is changing and growing, how do we continue to stay relevant and impactful? And as we respond to these challenges, how do we ensure we remain strong and sustainable as an organisation?
Included in this report is the strategic framework that will set the direction for the team over the next eight years, to 2030. It sets out how we will respond to these challenges while ensuring we remain anchored to who we are. With that balance we can continue to play our unique role in building a sustainable future for Aotearoa.
The passing of our patron Sir David Levene caused great sadness for the team and wider Outward Bound community. I had the pleasure of meeting Sir David when I started the role in February, and we discussed at length the past, present and future of Outward Bound.
He shared stories of the early days of our history, and his involvement over the years. I shared with him my thoughts about where we needed to go as an organisation, and he provided valuable advice and insight. We agreed the most important focus, was to make sure we can keep doing what we do for young New Zealanders for years to come.
In April, I took eight weeks parental leave to welcome my first pēpi, and I am so grateful to the team and the board for their support and aroha as I have transitioned into not one, but two new roles this year.
Ngā manaakitanga Malindi MacLean Chief Executive
