The man behind Canterbury's Student Volunteer Army is confident Nepal's young people can make a difference following the earthquake.

Sam Johnson has accepted an urgent invitation to travel to Kathmandu and work alongside the Nepalese Ministry of Youth.

He says they're not looking to recreate the volunteer army, but believe young people can make a difference to the relief effort.

"Whether it's going to knock on peoples' door and help them clean up, whether it's just giving them some moral support or actually helping to hand out 2000 of these solar-powered lamps that have been shipped in."

Johnson says mobilising locals to distribute aid makes sense, as they know the community best.

"When we look back at Christchurch's earthquakes, that was the most value - that we were actually able to aide the immediate aftermath because we had a roughly organised group of people who could be trusted to take supplies and give it out to people who needed it."

Sam Johnson says his own nerves are lessened by the opportunity to make a big difference.