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Help Mountains to Sea Wellington recover after the theft of essential vehicles & gear

$6,130 of $23,000 goal
Given by 83 generous donors in 4 weeks

Help Mountains to Sea Wellington recover after the theft of our vehicles & gear

Wellington

**Update-Mon 8 December** GEAR STILL MISSING

We're stoked to have located our ute and trailer thanks to the incredible support of our community! The less great news….. we’ve only recovered a small amount of gear with the vehicles. Thieves have taken over $23,000 uninsured gear.

Your donations ensure we can replace this gear ahead of our busy summer snorkel season- thank you so much for your support!!!

________________________________________________________________

On the evening of Saturday 29 November our white Hilux Truck and Snorkel Trailer were stolen from our marine base at Moa Point on the South Coast. We're gutted. This hits us right in the middle of our busiest season of marine education programmes.

The thieves drove away with our truck and trailer, which was filled with over 100 wetsuits, and over 50 masks & snorkels, snorkel fins, and boogie boards and safety gear. Over $23,000 worth of essential gear.

We're relying on the support of our community at this time, and seeking donations to help cover the replacement costs of our gear. Our vehicles are insured, but all of our wetsuits and contents are not. We'd appreciate any help in getting us back out on the water and continuing our core mahi with our schools and the wider community.

Thanks Wellington for all your support,

The MTSW team

About us

Mountains to Sea Wellington delivers inspiring freshwater and marine education programmes for schools and community groups and leads restoration projects. We're the greater Wellington regional provider for the Experiencing Marine Reserves, Whitebait Connection and Healthy Harbours programmes, which get people exploring and building connections the natural environment. We support people to restore land and water and lead our own restoration projects, such as Love Rimurimu.

Use of funds

We will need to replace over 100 wetsuits, 50 masks and snorkels, fins, boogie boards and other essential safety gear used with school and community groups in water. If these items are recovered by police, funds will go towards any repairs or replacements.

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Latest update

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Thank you!!  7 January 2026

Our fundraiser has now finished!

You helped us raise an incredible $13,293 toward our stolen gear fund though givealittle and other donations! We want to say a huge thank you to our incredible community for your support. Your contributions, shares and messages of support have meant heaps, and ensure we can continue our mahi into the new year!

A special shout out to our awesome team of vollies who’ve rallied around the cause, friends and whānau who've jumped in to support, to the Friends of Taputeranga Marine Reserve, and to the students of Paremata School and Tawa Intermediate for their fundraising efforts on our behalf- legends!

Although the fundraiser is over, we are always accepting donations, learn how you can support us here: mountainstoseawellington.org/donate

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Latest donations

Neale
Neale 7 days ago
$50
Juliann
Juliann on 20 Dec 2025
Loved trying out snorkeling with you guys. All the best with recovering/ replacing what was lost.
$100
Moira
Moira on 18 Dec 2025
$100
Jenny
Jenny on 17 Dec 2025
He waka eke noa - we are all in this together❤️
$50
Elize
Elize on 16 Dec 2025
Wishing you all the best with finding your gear. Thanks for doing such awesome work for the marine environment and community <3
$25

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Mountains to Sea Wellington Trust's avatar
Created by, and paying to a verified bank account of, Mountains to Sea Wellington Trust (Charity)
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A Registered Charity has legal recognition under the Charities Act 2005.
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Donations of over $5 are eligible for a New Zealand charitable giving tax credit.
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This campaign started on 2 Dec 2025 and ended on 5 Jan 2026.