Co-founder Megan Longman founded Journeys alongside former Outward Bound instructor Kim Froggatt, as they both understood the benefits of outdoor education for building confidence but recognised there were barriers for some women to take part.
To reduce barriers, there were no costs for those wanting to take part and required gear would also be supplied for free if needed.
They also recognised social connection was important for women taking part in outdoor adventure activities.
The Otago Community Trust had been working with Journeys for as long as the charity existed, Mrs Longman said.
The trust granted Journeys $14,000 to go towards delivering the programme as part of the trust’s September funding round.
Journeys had multiple programmes during winter and summer and for different age groups, she said.
During winter, the On Foot Adventures programme is run, in which participants take part in walking, scrambling, route finding and navigation, as well as looking after themselves in the cold and dark winter conditions.
Mrs Longman said the after dark activities also helped participants build resilience.
During summer, Journeys offers two biking programmes, Bike to Explore and Mountain Biking, where participants are introduced to the basics of adventuring on bikes while enjoying the trails around Alexandra.
Both those programmes were open to year 7-10 participants, but there was also a new programme aimed at those aged 15-24 called Journeys Inspire, which was due to start in a few weeks, she said.
The Journeys Inspire programme allowed participants to try different activities such as mountainbiking, open water swimming and waka ama (outrigger canoeing).
She was happy with the growth of Journeys and wanted to focus on quality as opposed to quantity when it came to the for-women-by-women programmes, Mrs Longman said.
There were 70 participants in the summer and winter programmes as well as 15 instructors, and 10 taking part in the leadership programme, where young women who had some Journeys experience could learn how to lead and teach alongside the instructors.
The vision for Journeys was that all women were "connected, confident and inspired", she said.
