The Kāmahi Trust

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The Kāmahi Trust

We are a charitable trust, dedicated to assisting young people to make a significant difference to ou

21/09/2026

Recently our Founder, Rebecca, gave two mentoring sessions to Madeleine Johnson, pictured here. The Kāmahi Trust gave a small grant to the trust Madeleine set up in 2024 - The South Sudan Education Fund. This is a great initiative which we’re happy to support. The mentoring sessions covered both Madeleine’s own future and the future of the Trust.
If you’re a young person with a great idea and want some support - let us know.
Kamahi.org

17/09/2026

A Year 9 class project that’s still going 6 years later. Ever had an idea in class and thought “someone should actually do this?”
Ysabella Abel and Pippa Sussex did this as part of a Social Studies project in Year 9 at Nayland College back in 2030. The idea: welcome packs with school supplies and basics for former refugee students starting at a new school who needed a bit of extra support. Small idea. Real impact.
Six years on, Haere Mai Bags is still running.
A new crew of students packed the bags every year now and it’s grown to reach kids across Nelson and Tasman and beyond. Ysabella? She went from being backed by us as a student to sitting on our board as a Trustee.
Her words: “It’s empowering to know that our age doesn’t hold us back.”
That’s the whole point. You don’t need to wait until you’re old enough to do something that matters. You need someone in your corner when you start.
Got an idea sitting in the back of your mind?

23/08/2026

This week Allan and Rebecca had the pleasure of visiting the Richmond Lions Club to share the story of The Kāmahi Trust - what it means to be “a nursery tree creating the environment for the taller trees to grow” here in Te Tau Ihu.

It was a great evening of connection with a club that’s been rooted in this community since 1968, and whose own kaupapa of service lines up so closely with ours.

Thank you for the warm welcome, the great questions, and the genuine interest in what our rangatahi are building - from Haere Mai Bags to Gen-Z Aotearoa and beyond.

Watch this space as the conversation continues. 🌱

06/08/2026

The Kamahi Trust was founded to inspire young people, & make a positive difference in our society.

Our Vision:
* To assist young people to make a significant difference to our world, locally and more widely, through the impactful and generous gift of time, support, grants and mentoring
* To support Trust recipients’ sense of purpose in the midst of a world that is uncertain in many ways
* To leave a legacy of good work which is an inspiration to others

Please contact us about The Kāmahi Trust or if you want to apply for one or more of our offers – grants, mentoring, or support. The link is in our Bio.
We look forward to hearing from you!

Nayland College Waimea College Nelson College for Geese MHS Official Page Rohan O’Neill-Stevens Ethically Kate🌱

08/07/2026

Meet our newest trustee!

Will Stovall has dedicated his adult life toward fostering a more compassionate relationship between human beings and the rest of nature. He moved from the United States to Dunedin in 2013, where he completed a Masters degree in conservation biology, before changing fields to focus upon philosophy, culture, and worldview for his PhD research.
Since moving to Whakatū Nelson in 2021, Will has worked as an environmental educator with a focus on amplifying the authentic voices of young people. In 2024, he began facilitating a learning programme on climate change in schools throughout Whakatū and Tasman, and in 2025, established Lighthouse Aotearoa – a non-profit organisation dedicated to uplifting environmentally conscious young people through community and local government engagement.

Will sees The Kāmahi Trust as a very natural fit in its empowerment of young people to envision what difference they can make in the world, and to manifest their ideas in practice.
Will says “Children and young people bring imagination and fresh perspectives to the table, and we do ourselves a disservice by not listening to them. As our world changes rapidly and we face unprecedented ecological challenges, that willingness to question and redefine what is possible will become increasingly important.”

11/06/2026

Our ‘Innovate for a Better World’ Workshop continues to inspire and give young ones an opportunity to explore ways they can make a positive impact in our communities. One such student was Jenni, pictured here speaking. She provided us with a reflection on the day.

“The Innovate for a Better World event was a chance for me to express myself and collaborate with a group of new people. This event meant a lot to me, since it was the first opportunity I’ve had to talk about my passions for art and soil science. I hoped that by talking to people my age about the things I do, that I would be able to inspire someone there to step up and try to make a difference about something they care about too. I’m not a big public speaker, so it was also great to push myself outside my comfort range. I was honored to have this opportunity.” nzlife
Nayland College Waimea College Nelson College for Girls Nelson College MHS Official Page Rohan O’Neill-Stevens Ethically Kate🌱

02/06/2026

Madeleine Johnson (featured front left in the second picture), a student at Waimea College, was one of our attendees at our recent Innovate for a Better World Workshop. Madeleine has already taken her desire to hep others and turned it into action by helping form the South Sudan Educational Fund, (SSEF).

South Sudan Education Fund, formerly known as Educate South Sudan, was founded in 2024 in an enrichment class as a student initiative at Waimea College in Nelson, New Zealand. The objective of the project is not only to raise funds through events or online donations, but to also increase local awareness of the current situation and educational challenges in South Sudan.

SSEF is a student-led initiative, with high-school-aged students working on a volunteer basis to steer the initiative through fundraising events, marketing strategies, and collaborative ventures, allowing for the students to engage with the project through a lens of empathy and understanding of educational challenges and developmental imperatives.

SSEF Social medias
Instagram & TikTok - southsudaneducationfund
Website - https://www.southsudaneducationfund.org

06/05/2026

On the 1st of May we held our ‘Innovation for a better world’ workshop which was a huge success. Thank you to everyone for coming and being open with us to discuss what we can do to make this world a better place. We are excited to work with the ideas which came out of this workshop. If you want to be apart of environmental and social change in your community please contact us via the website link in our bio!

20/04/2026

Get ready for an amazing workshop - Innovate for a Better World! We're thrilled to announce Will Stovall, founder of Lighthouse Aotearoa, will be joining our trustees to support the day. Will's dedication to a sustainable future is evident in his work in marine conservation and environmental education. For more information on what Lighthouse Aotearoa does please visit their website - lighthouseaoteroa.org.nz. To register for our exciting event click on the humanix link in our bio!!

03/04/2026

Nelson! Innovate for a better world is a one day workshop open to you! This event is grounded in the kaupapa of the Kāmahi Trust. Like the kāmahi tree — a nursery species — the day is designed to create the conditions for people, ideas, and partnerships to grow, enabling meaningful social and environmental impact. Click the link in our bio to register! We would love to see you there!

Address

Nelson

Telephone

+6421937776

Website

https://kamahi.org/

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