What is WORD?
What is WORD?
WORD, World Off-road Riding Department, is a rad youth mountain bike charity (NZ Charity Number CC50833) based in Aotearoa on a mission to change the world one ride at a time. We run after school programmes, holiday camps, events and leadership training for 7-17 year olds in the Wellington Region and Wānaka! In 2013 WORD was founded by Ashley Peters with the mission to save the world one ride at a time!
Currently there are over 400 kids in our term programmes across Wellington and Wānaka, 300 kids riding during the holidays, 60 Instructors and 35 Assistant Instructors in Aotearoa!
Spreading the love of riding across Aotearoa! We are super keen to see WORD in other locations…if you are interested, get in touch with Ash on ash@word.org.nz to discuss it more, yay!
WORD (World Off-road Riding Department) is on a mission to change the world one ride at a time! We are committed and passionate about creating awesome experiences to build youth confidence, develop new friendships, and foster a life-long love of mountain biking. The WORD whānau believes in equity in order to reduce the barriers to participation, embracing change through honesty and kindness, and building connections within our community and environment.
Our Mission
Youth Centered
Young people are at the heart of ALL decisions. For youth, with youth.
Adventure
We’re fun. We’ve got grit. We’re risk takers. We’re bravely kind.
Connection
Connection to self (confidence and being true to oneself ). Connection to others (sense of belonging and being kind to others). Connection to the environment.
Fight for Equity
We create access, support, and celebrate diversity + equity - always.
Embracing change
Embrace change: Gather the knowledge to inform and guide. We adapt. We are agile.
Our Values
In 2013 WORD was founded by Ash Peters as a way to ensure young people had access to the same thing she was loving… the community of mountain biking. With a group of 11 girls, they went on the very first holiday camp in the Wellington region, followed by a 7 week term programme including boys. Over half of that original crew followed WORD all the way through their childhood!
In 2014 we officially became a charity with a Board and everything! Participation grew quickly with over 100 kids/term during the next few years. The Instructors went from a few of Ash’s friends that she wrangled to over 20 amazing humans from a diverse background in the Wellington community. We experimented with trips away (yep, there was a time we thought a 7-9 year olds overnight camping trip was a good idea), a race team (that still managed to keep the WORD vibe even when competing), an assistant instructor programme (that now sees over 35 teenagers each year!), and a lot of snacks.
2021 was a big year for us launching in both Wanaka and Otautahi! We were stoked to see both of these communities really embrace the WORD vibe, although it wasn’t as easy as copy Wellington and there you go. It took time for us to get to know the community and meet their needs. Unfortunately we have made the difficult decision to not continue WORD in Otautahi as of 2023 due to funding and location support.
As for what’s next? We’re focusing on keeping our current WORD whanau and reaching new areas where we can bring WORD to the people…. think schools, secret sauce workshops, and nationwide instructor training support. We know that no matter what’s next for WORD, we’ll be staying true to our values and ensuring we can keep changing the world, one ride at a time.
Our History
Your child’s safety is our biggest priority. We want them to have fun, but in order to do this they need to be in a safe environment- physically, mentally and socially. WORD is proud to be accredited as an Adventure Activity Operator. WORD has a Safety Management System that has been audited and certified by Qualworx against the Safety Audit Standard for Adventure Activities. This means our Safety Management System has undergone a rigorous external audit by Qualworx and does so each year.
All WORD instructors are outdoor first aid trained (we work with the crew at Peak Safety) and carry a first aid kit.
Check out our More Information pages to find out more about how we run each session and and keep your child’s safety our top priority.
Proud to be an Adventure Activity Operator
Find out more about who we are, how we roll, and the incredible impact we are having with the young people and the community. Great facts, awesome photos, and quotes that capture what makes WORD WORD. Enjoy!
