Back-Up New Zealand Courses

 Short Courses

We have recently employed a Course Co-ordinator (Susie Chapman) to organise and run shorter taster courses (as opposed to our usual week long courses) which will enable participants past and new to be involved in participating in outdoor activities in Back-Up New Zealand’s safe, supportive environment:  Aims are to:

• Encourage continued participation in physical activity therefore aiding health and wellbeing
• Create opportunity to explore new interests and hobbies
• Assist in creating and maintaining new relationships and support networks
• Develop the skills needed to increase independence in and gain confidence in activities of daily living, e.g. work and productive activities, play or leisure areas

We intend on rolling out these programmes on a regular basis in Napier and then onto other regions in due course.  The programme will cater for all abilities and will vary in length depending on the activity i.e. 2-4 hours, 4-6 hours or an overnight experience. 

The following activities will be offered as a single activity or as part of a full day with the exception of the camping which is only available on the overnight experience:

Scuba Diving, Indoor Climbing, Abseiling, Scenic walks, Cycling, Kayaking (river trip), Paddling, Camping.  Other activities such as deep sea fishing, archery, clay pigeon shooting will be investigated in the new year.

Click here for a registration form or contact the office if you would like to have one emailed or posted to you.

Week long Courses

First and foremost Back-Up New Zealand courses are not a disabled holiday. They are a full and challenging course that will give you an opportunity to try out a range of activities with a group of like-minded people. It’s all about having a brilliant time, meeting some new friends and hopefully even learning something.

Back-Up New Zealand courses are specially designed for people of all abilities. The courses are integrated, so people with and without a disability work together as a team to face any challenge. Our philosophy is to take you outside your comfort zone, provide fun challenges in a safe environment and show that with a bit of lateral thinking, anything is possible. We then hope that the skills learned on our courses will be transferred back to your everyday lives, helping you to push the boundaries and return to life with a renewed sense of what is achievable with or without a disability.

Many people wonder whether it is essential to be super fit to take part in a Back-Up New Zealand course. The simple answer is no. Whether you are a paralympian or a sofalympian the course is suitable for you. You set your own goals and boundaries and we will help you break them. We will never force anyone to take part in an activity they don’t feel comfortable doing. However we hope that through providing a supportive, safe and caring environment we can encourage you to do things you never imagined possible.

All Back-Up New Zealand Courses include accommodation and food. Care can be provided if needed, please talk to us if you have any concerns in this area.

Back-Up New Zealand will be running both summer and winter courses in 2008. They’ll all be what we call multi-activity courses, great for first time participants. They offer the perfect introduction to a full range of outdoor activities in a controlled and safe environment.