Recreate NZ

06/03/2026

🎬 Jessica reckons Illuminate Market 2026 is going to be a ‘once in a lifetime experience’ and she’s absolutely right!

A very special guest is joining the Illuminate Market lineup - a powerful young voice who speaks with honesty, courage and heart, and whose story reflects what Illuminate stands for: Celebrating What’s Possible.

👀 Stay tuned to our socials on Monday 9th March for the big reveal!

04/03/2026

Rotorua remains an ever-popular destination with so much on offer! During this fun weekend away we enjoyed the famous Rotorua Duck Tours, learnt about Pounamu at Mountain Jade, and we took in the sights at the top of Skyline Rotorua!

We hope you like what we have on offer for Term 2 / Autumn at www.recreate.org.nz, this is the week to make your booking requests!

03/03/2026

Through the generous support from IHC New Zealand, we are able to run an exciting array of programmes for young people in the Hawke's Bay!

This adventure was truly one to remember, with a big meet up at AJ Hackett Bungy New Zealand in Taupō with groups from Auckland and Recreate Bay Of Plenty. In total, 18 people taking on the bridge swing and 2 people smashed the bungy jump. We are so proud of everyone who completed this challenge, and we are so thankful to the team at AJ Hackett who were incredible with our participants.

Next up, we loved our time on the Waikato river for the Huka Falls River Cruise right up to the base of the falls!

Thank you again for all our Hawke's Bay participants for wanting to be a part of our programmes, we can't wait to dream up more of these exciting opportunities in the coming months!

24/02/2026

📢📢TERM 2 / AUTUMN PROGRAMMES GO LIVE THIS SATURDAY! 📢📢

This is for all programmes over April, May and June, and we can't wait for you to see what we have on offer!

Be sure to check in at www.recreate.org.nz from 10am, Saturday 28th February to make your booking requests.

24/02/2026

Plenty of news in this week's mailchimp update, click the link below to read all about it!

We are so pleased to announce our community partnership with Suntory Oceania. We thank them for recognising our work and choosing to partner with us and we cannot wait to see the impact we can deliver together.

We also remind our community that Term 2 / Autumn programmes go live this Saturday at 10am, so be sure to check out our website then to make your requests.

We have staffing news with a farewell to Alfie, and warm welcomes to Millie and Yasmin. And finally we have Illuminate next month!

Enjoy!

From the team at Recreate NZ

We are excited to announce a new community partnership with multi‑beverage business Suntory Oceania. This partnership will directly support our programmes that build confidence, strengthen independence, and open pathways into education, employment, and community life for young people with disabili...

24/02/2026

A huge thank you to this group of funders who have generously supported our kaupapa at Recreate NZ here in Tāmaki Makaurau / Auckland and across Aotearoa.

Our journeys alongside the many young people we work with would not be possible without this crucial support.

1. Four Winds Foundation for supporting our Auckland premise rent
2. Tū Manawa for supporting our adventurous and recreational programmes.
3. Milestone Foundation for funding the purchase of 3 new laptops
4. Henderson-Massey Local Board for supporting our west-based Life Skills courses.

23/02/2026

📣 We’re only 5 weeks away from Illuminate Market 2026! Have you saved the date?!

We have a very special guest joining us this year – watch this space for an exciting announcement! 👀

In the meantime – invite your friends and whānau to Illuminate Market 2026, click ‘Interested’ if you’re planning to attend so you receive all the latest event notifications, and get ready to 🥳

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!