Recreate NZ

12/02/2026

Fun in the sun out at Te Henga / Bethells beach and Lake Wainamu!

We took a few boogie boards out to the lake and enjoyed sliding down the dunes.

Thanks everyone for coming out for this West Coast adventure!

11/02/2026

Term 2 / Autumn Release

It's almost that time again for another termly programme release!

Our teams are currently dreaming, designing and planning for Term 2 / Autumn programmes, and we can tell you there will be some great ones in there for sure!

Be sure to check in at www.recreate.org.nz from 10am, Saturday 28th February to see what we have on offer.

04/02/2026

So much fun was had during our January Holiday Programme! After our regular summer break for a few weeks, we loved seeing all these smiley faces back at Recreate in Ellerslie and Massey in Auckland, and not forgetting Hamilton, Tauranga, Wellington and Christchurch.

We hope you have a great Waitangi Day tomorrow, stretching into the weekend this year.

Just a reminder that our team is away at our annual staff retreat next week from Monday 9th until Wednesday 11th February.

We will reply to your calls, emails and texts when we are back in the office from Thursday.

Thank you!

29/01/2026

Kia ora to our Recreate NZ community,

We hope you have found enjoyable moments this summer where ever you have ventured to.

We have a mega update in the link below, with a mini recap of January, a message of aroha to those affected by the recent extreme weather events, staffing news, new merch, Term 2 release date and an exciting announcement in tandem with Sport NZ.

Enjoy

"It's been such a privilege to work with a community of incredible young people in Christchurch", says Jack. "Although I'm sad to leave, it's so exciting to see how far Recreate has come and that we're still growing and making a difference in our communities. To all our staff, volunteers and partici...

27/01/2026

Featuring our North Island Youth Camp last week at Kauaeranga Valley Christian Camp! A huge thank you to our camp hosts, our team of facilitators and volunteers and our campers for managing the red weather warning and precautionary state of emergency for Coromandel.

With the weather improving on Thursday, we managed to get outside safely and enjoy archery, low ropes, orienteering and a camp fire with toasted marsh mellows. We absolutely loved seeing our participants from Auckland, Waikato, Bay of Plenty and Wellington getting together and making so many connections.

This camp was made possible with funding from New Zealand Community Trust (NZCT), thank you for the support!

14/01/2026

Rewinding back to early December, our Girls Club enjoyed the weekend at Whiritoa beach in the Coromandel.

This weekend consisted of a walk to Waimama Bay, yoga, minigolf and a swim!

Over February we have the Lads Club: Action Ninja World and the Girls Club: Evening at the Park

12/01/2026

Now that our summer break is well and truly over at Recreate NZ, we are in full swing with Holiday Programmes, Youth Camps, Getaways, and our Moxie Summer Series featured here.

These days keep our horticulture spaces in Kumeu and Waiau Pa maintained and ticking over, before we enter the term later in February.

Next week we have our huge National Youth Camp in Kauaeranga Valley near Thames, with Auckland, Wellington, Waikato and Bay of Plenty participating!

Welcome back for 2026 everyone!

22/12/2025

🗣️“With every Illuminate Market, we’re building a community that recognises the strength of diverse, creative minds. Illuminate is about challenging limiting perceptions and supporting financial independence through entrepreneurship and inclusive employment.” Sarah Ferens, Head of Moxie for Recreate NZ.

🗓️ Illuminate Market 2026 is coming soon - save the date! 🗓️
Saturday 28th March, 4pm - 8pm | Mt Albert, Auckland

✨

18/12/2025

Thank you to all our wonderful participants, facilitators, volunteers, operations staff, parents and family members, funders and supporters who made 2025 one to remember.

2025 has been a year of even more growth, more programmes and more young people coming through the doors, and we really look forward to exciting things in 2026!

We hope you have a wonderful summer break over Christmas and New Years, and we look forward to opening our doors again from 5th January 2026.

17/12/2025

We love to celebrate the end the year with you at our annual Christmas Party, with secret santa, good food, photo booth and good music.

We hope you enjoyed it too!

Our venue was the Mount Albert War Memorial Hall, and we will be returning here in March 2026 for the next Illuminate Market, watch this space for a teaser video for this event very soon.

And keep an eye out for our 2025 wrapped video tomorrow, showcasing all our highlights from this year!

16/12/2025

Thank you for all your feedback so far!

We completely understand this is a hectic time of the year, but if you happened to have 15 minutes spare, please consider completing this survey.

This survey is a great way for us to see what we are doing well, and where we can improve. Entries can be anonymous, but if you enter your email address, you will go into the draw to win a $100 Our Harvest Prize pack!

Please click the link below

Many thanks,

From the team at Recreate NZ

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/DMVZKPZ

16/12/2025

Happy Holidays from the 2025 Moxie Crew!

It’s been a productive year for planting, maintenance, skill development and harvesting across all our Moxie programmes this year.

We’ve seen beautiful brassicas, beetroot, nutrient rich leafy greens, the new Recreate kitchen and garden and the arrival of wee Septimus the calf.

Now we’re into a bumper season of strawberries, tomatoes and hopefully the first crop of stone fruit. Huge thank you to Pots of Joy who provide all our lovely seedlings and to the wonderful interns and volunteers, we couldn’t do it without you.

Wish our orchard and gardens luck over the hot summer!