Trust Tairāwhiti calls for Wellbeing Survey respondents

Trust Tairawhiti's data and information lead Malcolm Mersham with Lily Stender, from Tolaga Bay Innovation. Trust Tairawhiti has gone out and about to help encourage survey respondents. Photo / Trust Tairāwhiti

Time is running out for residents of Tairāwhiti to contribute their voices and help form a unique insight into the region’s biggest funding gaps.

The Tairāwhiti Wellbeing Survey (TWS) is under way for the third time, having been previously run in 2020 and 2023.

Trust Tairāwhiti’s data and information lead Malcolm Mersham told the Gisborne Herald the survey had come about from trustees asking in 2019: “Are we investing in the right things and how do we know they are making a difference for people.”

The six key themes they identified became the basis for the trust’s wellbeing framework He Rangitapu He Tohu Ora, which was recognised at the Economic Development New Zealand (EDNZ) Best Practice Awards this year with an award for Innovation and Primary Research.

Trust Tairāwhiti found in 2019 there was little good-quality data specific to the region.

“We were left with this gap between what people wanted and the information available,” Mersham said.

He pointed to Gisborne data often being combined with Hawke’s Bay data in national datasets, despite there being differences between the regions.

“Our voice as a region is not very well captured in many places.”

Mersham said Trust Tairāwhiti intended to close the information gap and better inform funding decisions using TWS.

The survey had since become a community asset organisations, iwi and government agencies could benefit from and compare with the Government’s key indicators of wellbeing in other datasets.

“With our survey, you can see things like whether someone feels safe in their neighbourhood and then you can directly compare that with the national average to see how well or how bad Tairāwhiti is doing."

Mersham discussed a few of the key insights from data gathered from the past two surveys.

• Youth 15-24 tend to have slightly lower life satisfaction and often feel they can’t realise their aspirations. “Often the kind of work they want to do, their aspirations, aren’t linked to the actual opportunities available in Tairāwhiti.”
• Youth 15-24 tend to feel strongly connected to the region and enjoy living in Tairāwhiti. However, Mersham said young people reported a lack of local rentals or housing.
• Tairāwhiti has one of the fastest-growing youth populations in Aotearoa. “Most places in the country have an ageing demographic. Everyone is getting older, but in Tairāwhiti there are a lot more younger people.”
• The number of people who felt their communities had a say in decision-making was low during the first survey and the sentiment was even more negative during the second survey last year. “That is even more of a reason to contribute because if you are concerned about decisions being made and not being heard here is the perfect vehicle for that to change essentially.”

Trust Tairāwhiti is encouraging residents 15 years and over to complete its online Tairāwhiti Wellbeing Survey, which closes at the end of the first week of December. Photo / Ben Cowper

The survey aims to capture about 1000 respondents annually. There have been about 650 respondents so far this year.

“We take our responses and then we weigh it against our demographic population to be most representative of the full 50,000,” Mersham said.

He recognised it was a busy time of year for many but wanted to make the call to action now to encourage people to get on board.

“My message to locals when I am campaigning about this is: ‘Look, decisions are being made about you every day whether you know or not. Investment into things like schools, education, roading. Why wouldn’t you want to have a say in where the money goes?‘”

The only two requirements for doing the survey are that participants must live in Tairāwhiti and be 15 or older.

Respondents can complete the survey in English, te reo Māori and Tongan at tairāwhitidata.nz

The survey takes about 12-15 minutes to complete and features a diverse range of questions which gauge factors like job satisfaction, how financially secure residents feel and how they feel about the future of the region.

Trust Tairāwhiti will endeavour to release the data publically within three months after collection.

Mersham said they understood not everyone was comfortable submitting online, so Trust Tairāwhiti had also been taking devices to different spaces in the community.

“If you are a member of a community that you think has an important voice in the process, or you are an employer with a bunch of employees, or you are a marae, we will come...just reach out to us.”

TWS closes at the end of the first week of December.