Around 35 Upper Clutha teenagers boarded a bus in the early hours of Monday morning (January 4) to start their cherry picking jobs at a Cromwell orchard.

The 16 to 18-year-olds had been recruited via a community group established to “get stuff done” for young people in the Upper Clutha, the GSD Collective.

Sarah Millwater, Liz Breslin, and Sarah Fox set up the GSD Collective to create opportunities and activities that matter to young people, and Sarah Millwater has been paid by the Kahu Youth Trust to run the cherry picking project.

While the need for pickers for the cherry harvest was “a call to action”, Sarah said the work experience also met a need for many local teenagers.

“A lot of youth don’t really have the confidence to be in hospitality or the supermarket, and this was a way to introduce them into the workforce with the support of their peers, and have something to put something on their CV,” she said.

Sarah said the experience of travelling together on the bus, working with their friends, making new friends, and reconnecting with each other before going back to school, would be valuable.

“I had a good day,” worker Damo said. “It was fun learning how exporting cherry companies work, and the equipment that is used.”

The young people have been 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. 

However, heavy rain during the past few days meant Sunday’s start date was postponed, and Sarah said the rain has “messed things up” to a degree.

The Otago Daily Times reported yesterday that Central Otago cherry growers have lost millions of dollars of crop after the rain destroyed cherries.

Some growers estimated losses at between 30 and 60 percent, and more rain is forecast, the newspaper said.

The GSD Collective is continuing to explore funding options to pay for half of the bus transport costs for the young Upper Clutha workers. CentralPac is paying for half the transport costs.

The GSD Collective has raised sufficient funds to pay for a supervisor to work with the young people, who are aged from 16 to 25-years-old.

PHOTO: Supplied