When Tauranga Boys' College Year 13 student Shane Webb set the goal of going to Outward Bound for 21 days, the main hurdle he faced was meeting the cost of the challenging outdoor adventure course.

'The whole cost was around $4500, and I was working to raise money to pay for it,” says Shane.

Outward Bound, located in the Marlborough Sounds, helps people reach their full potential through challenge in the outdoors, by participating in activities such as sailing, kayaking, tramping, high ropes and physical training.

Shane, 17, did a lot of his own fundraising but as exams approached, found he was coming up short on the final amount needed.

'I'm a member of the Tauranga RSA, and I wrote to them asking for sponsorship,” says Shane.

'He has a heritage of three generations with the RSA,” says RSA welfare committee chairperson Tony Hulme. 'His father and grandfather. It's a family tradition. They've supported the club very well, all of them.

'With his exams coming up, we knew there was no way he was going to be able to raise any more and we took that into consideration. We like to see people try raise money first, and don't want them just to write to us for funds. And they're not to give up when we say: ‘yes we will help you', saying the RSA is going to pay the rest. Because that's not what it's about. We're here to help the community because they've helped us over Poppy Days, so it's time for us to come to the party and pay back.”

Tony says they do prefer people be members of the RSA 'otherwise we could end up with loads of people asking for funds and it's not that big a kitty”.

Shane was the only student from his college to go on the Outward Bound, meeting up with others around the country.

'It was a very enjoyable experience and I'd definitely go back again. I made lots of new friends.”

He learned to use a map and compass when tramping, enjoyed kayaking, and got to experience activities like coasteering set in one of the most beautiful places in New Zealand.

'On one of the tramps I saw snow, in the middle of January.”

Shane, who also plays football for Tauranga City, plans to study accounting at university, but would love to do the Outward Bound course again.

'The best thing was meeting new people.”