In 1995 a youth venue called Global Tribe was launched by Body & Soul Trust in central Wellington. The venue was initially a huge success and saw over 100,000 young people through its doors in nine months. However, it became evident that it was near impossible to run a commercial youth venue at a profit, resulting in the closure of Global Tribe and leaving the young people of Wellington without a venue for after schools and weekends. Realising the tragedy of the closure, the Mayor of Wellington at the time, Mark Blumsky, approached Body & Soul Trust with the prospect of offering financial support from the Wellington City Council to relaunch the venue. The new organisation became an independent charitable trust in February 1998 and was rebranded as Zeal.

Eighteen months later Zeal held its first event. Zeal Education Trust is a not-for-profit community organisation that was conceived as a facility for youth events and activities. Body & Soul Trust, in partnership with the Wellington City Council, conceptualised Zeal to provide a central, safe, social environment for Wellington’s youth. Zeal has now been in operation in Wellington for eleven years and recently opened a second facility in Waitakere in partnership with the Waitakere City Council.