Our guest speaker on Tuesday was Malindi McLean Chief Executive of Outward Bound New Zealand.
Malindi was introduced to the meeting by Peter Corner, himself an Outward Bound graduate who has had significant involvement with the institution over the years.
Malindi Was previously chief executive of Hubbard’s before becoming chief executive of outward bound.
She told us that the common thread of dealing with those who have been through the Outward Bound programmes is that it changes lives. She made the comment that Outward Bound was a military entity run by hippies.
The essence of Outward Bound is that to build leadership, to build confidence and to build resilience one needs to practise those that attributes to become good at them.
Outward Bound started at Anikiwa in the Marlborough Sounds in 1962.
In 1972 women started participating in programmes and 1974 adaptive programmes for those with physical handicaps commenced.
Courses are still largely the same format as was the case in 1952 except that there is now a greater safety focus.
Malindi told us that Outward Bound have been measuring the results and impact of the course on the over 70,000 participants through the course since 1962. In general, it has been a life changing exercise. Outward Bound’s research suggests that for those who have passed through the programmes there is a significant social benefit. The research suggests that for every dollar spent on the programmes there is a $13 return to the economy.
Outward Bound is a very effective programme in as a consequence should be supported. Melinda made the comment that Outward Bound solves problems that both government and the private sector avoid.
Outward Bound is going through a process of setting out its plan for the future and in particular how it deals with in response to the challenges that the youth of today, those between 18 and 25 years are facing.
This is because people in that age group 18 to 25 are reporting acute psychotic psychiatric distress. The goal is to get 10% of school leavers through the programme to bring about positive change in the community.
While Anikiwa is a great site, Outward Bound is currently looking for a North Island site close to Hamilton Auckland and Tauranga to minimise travel and cost. Bringing the program to the significant population bases in the North Island. Currently spots in the Coromandel Peninsula and Taupo are being investigated.
Outward Bound is also looking at the length of courses. Currently the 21-day course is the base course, but it has been found that 14-day course does have a sweet spot for many people especially those who are time poor.
Issues that are arising for Outward Bound is the need to ensure that candidates for courses can handle the physical and mental stresses that are placed on them. Outward Bound need also to ensure the courses are safe.
Outward Bound is funded by sponsorship, donations, corporate support and Rotary. It operates an endowment fund into which donations are paid. The target for the fund is $40 million. Presently the fund totals 23 million. Once the fund reaches the $40 million it will be able to fund scholarships to participants. This is because the full course fee is currently about $5000 which is a significant impost for some.
Outward Bound did it tough during the covid lockdowns. Happily it is now filling all its courses and is back to pre pandemic numbers of students. Although it is expecting that numbers will decline due to current economic situation.
Overall Outward Bound is in a good place. While there are challenges to face and overcome Malindi’s presentation suggested that it has the potential to meet them successfully.