Money from Z Energy's Good In The Hood promotion has gone towards purchasing outdoor equipment for a powerful youth intervention programme, S.T.A.R.T Taranaki.
Based in Kaponga for the last 12 years, S.T.A.R.T (Supporting Today's At Risk Teenagers) is a outward bound type experience that gives young men who have been through the court system a chance to make a change and start working towards being independent.
Chief executive Neville Phillips says that S.T.A.R.T is a three stage community intervention programme that takes in clients from all over the country.
"The young people that come to us come from a background of trauma and abuse, the idea of the programme is to change their way of thinking and help them build towards a brighter future."
Operations manager, Clayton Dando, says the programme begins with a wilderness experience. "We take the students out to the bush to give them the opportunity to build bonds with our staff while flushing their systems of toxins and negative attitudes."