A new community group established to “get stuff done” for young people in the Upper Clutha has been working to provide them with cherry picking jobs this summer. 

The Upper Clutha GSD Collective was established by three local women, Sarah Millwater, Liz Breslin, and Sarah Fox. 

Sarah Millwater said the new group wants to create opportunities and activities that matter to young people.

The collective is planning a skate park for Hāwea Flat, and engaging with local youths to find out “what it is that they actually want”, Sarah told the Wanaka App.

The group’s latest venture is to work with the Kahu Youth Trust and CentralPac Orchard on an initiative they hope will provide 100 young people with employment this summer.

Sarah Millwater 

“Businesses in the area were in real danger of losing a significant part of their harvest this season and so with a lack of seasonal workers from overseas due to COVID-19 restrictions we quickly jumped on an initiative to get something done,” said Sarah, who is the driving force behind the project.

Young people will be offered three or four days work a week at CentralPac, a cherry orchard near Cromwell. 

“They see great value in investing in youth for this project by offering training, great working conditions and good pay,” Sarah said. 

“They are always looking to the future and envisage this year’s cohort of 100 16 to 25-year-olds will come back for more in the coming seasons. Some of them may even use this experience as a way of getting into the industry.”

Applications are open now. There are 50 vacancies for 16 to 18-year-olds, and 50 vacancies for 19 to 25-year-olds. For details and to apply email [email protected].

“We really are keen for our young people to take the first steps in their application and have a sense of ownership and pride that not only are they gaining new skills, earning their own money but helping out a business in need and injecting a significant amount of money back into the local economy,” Sarah said. 

Invitations to apply were sent to Upper Clutha youths via the social media platforms Snapchat and TikTok.

The collective’s hopes of funding from the Ministry of Primary Industries didn’t eventuate, so the group has set up a PledgeMe page to help fund the daily bus transport from Wanaka to the orchard and return, as well as extra supervision for the youngest cohort of workers.

“We were mindful about not only supporting the orchard but also a locally owned bus company that is also missing out on revenue due to COVID-19,” Sarah said.

The cherry picking project will be a pilot project for a wider scheme which, in future seasons, may be able to engage younger people and connect with more growers in the region.

Sarah said while the government has recently agreed to open the border to some seasonal workers, those workers would arrive too late for the cherry harvest.

PHOTOS: Supplied