Government gives $1m to Hawke's Bay trust for meth harm reduction programme

Two Hawke's Bay programmes set up to fight methamphetamine harm in the region will receive $1.47m between them from the Provincial Growth Fund.

The Waiohiki Community Charitable Trust will be given $970,000 to run its Tangata Mahi Oranga programme, while Central Hawke's Bay District Council will receive $497,514 to run He Ringa Ora Whānau.

It comes as National Party leader Judith Collins turned the lens on the region's meth problem opening her election campaign with her policy to rid NZ of it in Napier on Monday.

Waiohiki Community Charitable Trust chairman Denis O'Reilly said he is glad for the Government's investment, but says it will be a challenge to lessen the drug's grip on the community.

Denis O'Reilly (centre), says $1m of funding will go a long way to helping fight meth harm in Hawke's Bay. Photo / Paul Taylor

The longtime Black Power member says the political will to do something does offer hope.

"What is encouraging is that all the major political parties are on the same page, that this is primarily a health issue, and that demand reduction is a viable strategy," he said.

Tangata Mahi Oranga translates as 'good people doing healthy things', and the programme O'Reilly is espousing will focus on both personal and community resilience against meth.

With the direct programme in its formative stage, there are two groups of participants; an interconnected group of wahine Maori who have had ongoing struggles with meth use, and a group of younger males on the periphery of gang life who have dabbled with the drug.

"The needs of these two initial groups will help guide and frame our direct programme," O'Reilly said.

It will work with up to 50 individuals and their whānau each year over two years.

He said the first "big picture" intent of Tangata Mahi Oranga was to collaborate with Hawke's Bay District Health Board to facilitate a needs assessment: \

"The outcome should be that the local practitioners get to know each other and will have a deeper understanding of the nature of our problem, the locations of the problem, the nature and availability of the services being provided, and the possibility of collaboration."

More collaboration is also intended with the Eastern Institute of Technology to grow the mental health and addictions workforce.

The Government's Mental Health and Addictions Inquiry encouraged the idea of training people with 'lived experience' to join the sector, O'Reilly said.

"We have an idea called 'Barefoot Counsellors'."

He also foresees a 'Mental Health and Addiction 101' that might be made available to front line community workers, Maori Wardens, Police, staff at social sector agencies, retired people wishing to contribute to the community, and newly unemployed people exploring new careers.

"It may also be an entry point for people in recovery," O'Reilly said.

The Trust chairman, who has long worked as a social activist as a consultant to government and private sector organisations, said the direct programme's monitoring and evaluation process was being done under the guidance of Professor Dame Marilyn Waring and Dr Jill Worrall.

Central Hawke's Bay District Council's programme will appoint two He Ringa Whānau Ora roles to provide community-based support to address drug issues and intergenerational cycles of whānau harm in hard to reach whānau in the Central Hawke's Bay.

The programme will work closely with the Tihei Tamatea network and Central Hawke's Bay triage forum. It will support 50 whānau over two years.

National's plan to tackle methamphetamine harm was met with optimism from O'Reilly, who said they were "pretty much on track. .

"It's the most liberal I've heard Judith Collins," he said.