The Clarion Tour, which was comprised of 17-26 year olds from across the country, was created in order to enable Young Labour members to help charitable and non-profit organisations across the country.

Young Labour Vice President and Clarion Tour organiser Ella Hardy said that the tour was the perfect way to share Young Labour’s “…values of social justice and building strong communities with the people of New Zealand”.

Throughout their journey, from north of Auckland to the depths of the South Island, the Tour team has been well received by local community groups and members of the public. Rory McCourt, a participant on the Clarion Tour said “It was fantastic working with everyday kiwis who give so much to their communities, and providing a helping hand so they can focus on their great work”.

The group has been involved in a wide range of activities from building fences for Riding for the Disabled in Waitakere, to cutting gorse in Bell’s Track, Wellington, and cleaning up litter on the untamed shores of the wild West Coast.

Highlights of the Tour include assisting Whanganui emergency housing provider Project Jericho, the Arrowtown Plunket Rooms, and establishing a community barbeque area with House 44 in Stoke, Nelson. Young Labour activist Shona Jowett, who was with the tour for its entirety, said “I really enjoyed the hard work we put in and I hope that other young people can get involved at this grassroots level in their own areas.”

A prime focus for the Young Labour Clarion Tour has been to learn what, why and how New Zealanders are supporting each other in local areas. All of the team had expressed their renewed appreciation for the landscapes, skills and sincerity found across Aotearoa and look forward to ‘mucking in again’.

The Clarion Tour is named after the famed Clarion Cycling Club, which consisted of a group of dedicated British political activists who rode around the English country side in the 1890s talking about their vision for a better and fairer society. The first Young Labour Clarion Tour took place in 2004-5. This has been the second.

First stop is Motueka; where Young Labour will help out the in the local community gardens. Work towards sustainable and resilient communities, said Vice President Ella Hardy was “alive and well in centres such as Motueka, where Young Labour is passionate about helping out groups like those active in the heart of Tasman.”

The second stop will be Nelson, where the group is hoping for a spot of sunshine after battling poor weather to contribute to the restoration of Bell’s Track native bush in Wellington. The Clarion Tour team will bare their green thumbs once again as the 17-26 year olds help build a vegetable garden and establish a barbeque area at the Orchard Street Reserve at House 44, a community home on Karaka Street. Local Labour List MP Maryan Street will join the group in while they assist in Nelson.

Hokitika and the West Coast will receive the Tour on Wednesday as the group flexes their artistic flair by painting a mural for one of the local schools. Nicola Wood, from Wellington, was excited to “Expand the repertoire of our skills”.

Putting away their paintbrushes, the group troops on to Arrowtown where they will build a trampoline, top up sandpits, waterblast and generally prepare the centre for the new year. Rory McCourt, a Young Labour member from Gisborne, said he looks forward to giving back to schools and early childhood centres such as those in Hokitika and Arrowtown who “had taken a hit under the current National Government.”

The Tour culminates with the Young Labour Summer School, regarded as one of the brainstorming and long-term reflective highlights on the Labour Party’s calendar.

Des Smith from Rainbow Gardeners, who organised today’s effort, said “It is great to see young people out there caring about the bush and thinking ahead. It is great that there are young people who are going to keep up this kind of work.”

The team of eleven Young Labour members worked with Des to clear ground and spread mulch to support the growth of native plants around Bell’s Track. Bell’s Track is part of only five percent of forests left in Wellington after settlers used the timber and burned the remaining land. The ground left behind was deprived of nutrients and much work is needed to help the bush recover.

“I really enjoy tramping and going on bush walks so it was really great to be able to actually give something back and help ensure the sort of native forest I enjoy flourishes”, said Young Labour member Andreas Triandafilidis.

Young Labour member Shona Jowett said it was hard work but well worth it. “There was a lot of rain but it was good to be a part of restoring these public bush walks. Des also had a good knowledge of plants and it was interesting to hear about some of our native species of flora and fauna”

Des said he appreciated the help. “It would be great if we could see all people spending more time looking after their surroundings, if every Sunday they spent two hours doing something to improve our environment”

The Young Labour Clarion tour will continue in the South Island over the next five days finishing in Christchurch on Friday.

“Our day on Monday in Auckland is jam packed with community activities, it’s a really exciting start” said Young Labour Vice-President Ella Hardy.

The Clarion Tour will involve members of Young Labour journeying from the Rodney District in Auckland through to Dunedin putting the principles of social justice and community service into action.

The members of Young Labour will begin the tour on Monday the 17th in Orewa cleaning up and helping with maintenance at the Hibiscus Coast Kindergarten.

“This is where I began life, at this kindy, and now I want to give something back – it was an important starting point for me and an appropriate beginning for our activities,” commented President of Young Labour, Analiese Jackson.

Later that day Young Labour will venture to Waitakere where they will be busy helping out a number of community organisations.

They will lend their help to the Walsh Trust, a local mental health support provider, as well as to Riding with the Disabled where they will assist in constructing a fence. They will then do some cleaning up with the Glen Eden Business Association and with the Ranui Action Project.

The second day Young Labour will be helping out in the Glen Innes Family Centre preparing food parcels for those in need before heading for their next stop in Hamilton.

“Along the way, we will be blogging our adventures at www.clariontour.co.nz, which we hope will be an interactive way of engaging local communities as we travel across New Zealand,” said Hardy.

The Clarion tour is named after the famed Clarion Cycling Club, which consisted of a group of dedicated British political activists who rode around the English country side in the 1890s talking about their vision for a better and fairer society.

If you are, or if you know of a group in your local area who may be in need of any assistance over the coming weeks, please contact vicepresident@younglabour.org.nz.

From January 17th, members of Young Labour will journey from the Rodney District in Auckland through to Queenstown in the hopes of putting the principles of social justice and community service into action.

This isn’t the first time that Young Labour, the youth wing of the Labour party which has members spanning from 15-25 years of age, have organised a tour of this sort. “The first Young Labour Clarion Bus Tour was undertaken in the summer of 2004 and travelled from Auckland to Invercargill in nine days. This time, we’ve expanded the length of the tour to an ambitious two weeks and we’re covering a lot more ground” said President of Young Labour, Analiese Jackson.

“Young Labour is really excited about getting out on the road and offering some, if you’ll excuse the pun, ‘young labour’ to community groups who are in need of a helping hand.”

“Over the next two weeks we’ll be undertaking tasks that range from cleaning up a kindergarten in Orewa to planting trees in Ohariu to repainting Plunket rooms in Otago.”

“There’s a common perception out there that our generation are apathetic and more interested in commodities then communities. We’re trying to challenge that stereotype whilst helping our local communities at the same time.” said Vice President Ella Hardy.

“Along the way, we will be blogging our adventures and keeping people up to date by way of our website, www.clariontour.co.nz, which we hope will be an interactive way of engaging local communities as we travel across New Zealand.”

The Clarion tour is named after the famed Clarion Cycling Club, which consisted of a group of dedicated British political activists who rode around the English country side in the 1890s talking about their vision for a better and fairer society.

If you are, or if you know of a group in your local area who may be in need of any assistance over the coming week, please contact vicepresident@younglabour.org.nz.