Education and Child Youth Development and supreme winners were Te Waiariki Purea Trust. They are pictured at the Trustpower Rotorua Lakes Awards on Wednesday night last week. Photo / Ben Fraser
Education and Child Youth Development and supreme winners were Te Waiariki Purea Trust. They are pictured at the Trustpower Rotorua Lakes Awards on Wednesday night last week. Photo / Ben Fraser
Te Waiariki Purea Trust has been around Rotorua for nearly 30 years walking the talk and helping our rangatahi. After they scooped the supreme title at the Trustpower Rotorua Lakes Community Awards, we decided to find out more.
How long has the trust been in operation?
Te Waiariki Purea Trust was established in 1987. Next year we will celebrate our 30th birthday. In 1997 the trust waka, Te Auheki, was blessed by the Minister of Youth Affairs at the time, Laila Harre, and we also gained a PTE status. We now operate under a Memorandum of Understanding with Waiariki Institute of Technology to deliver NZQA units, as well as providing numerous youth and social services. John Chadwick has been the chairman since the trust opened 29 years ago.
Why was the trust set up?
The trust legal entity was established to deliver a programme called Moving On with the aim of engaging with at-risk youth in the community, and get them involved in sport and recreation. Our whakatauki is "E hoki ki nga maunga kia purea koe e nga hau a Tawhirimatea" which translates to "Return to the mountains to be cleansed by the winds of Tawhirimatea." We strongly believe that the more our young people are engaged in activities out in their communities, the more skills they are learning and the more culturally connected they become. We encourage our rangatahi to be active members of the community, developing leadership roles and therefore becoming role models to the future generations. There was a saying that really stuck with our trust, "into sport, out of court" which really captures the importance of getting our youth involved in something, whether it's re-engaging them in education or finding them alternative training programmes through our Youth Guarantee courses, or getting them involved in the outdoors through our sport and recreation programmes.
The trust holds a contract with the Ministry of Social Development to deliver some of our services. We have a Youth Services team, Whanau Support Services team, Okareka Outdoors Centre team and Youth Development team providing a diverse range of support for our community.
Who does the trust help?
The Youth Service offer Youth Payment (YP) for 16 and 17-year-olds who are unable to live at home, Young Parent Payment (YPP) for 16 to 18-year-olds and we also offer support for 16 and 17-year-olds who are thinking about, or have already dropped out of school through Not Engaged in Education or Training (NEET) team. The Youth Services team works alongside their clients to ensure they achieve their goals, whatever they may be.
Our Whanau Support team delivers Strengthening Families - a voluntary service bringing whanau together with appropriate agencies to provide support in achieving their goals with positive outcomes.
Tuu Mai Raa is a voluntary family violence service for whanau looking at prevention of abuse by building resilience, self-determination and self-empowerment.
Our co-ordination of Rotorua Safer Families networks assist with activities, meetings and events such as White Ribbon Day.
Our Okareka Outdoors Centre is based out at Boyes Beach and offers team building activities, multi-day journeys, outdoor activities and unit standards delivered by qualified instructors. This service caters for school and community groups as well as individuals.
Some of Te Waiariki Purea Trust's service representatives.
Our Youth Development programmes are extensive. Awhi Mai assists youth referred by Child Youth and Family or Youth Justice with supervised whanau plans.
Fresh Start Mentoring is a programme also designed for youth referred by Child, Youth and Family.
Te Arawa Journey offers strength based experiences and activities through the Te Arawa area and is suitable for youth aged 10 to 15 years.
Our Breakaway Holiday Programme caters for youth aged 11 to 17 who would not normally be given the opportunity to attend a holiday programme.
Ira Matatau Rangatahi Leadership (IMReaL) is a leadership programme focusing on event management, volunteering and participation in their community. This programme caters for 12 to 24-year-olds.
Free Parking is a strategic co-ordination of free weekly sporting activities in the Western Heights and Fordlands communities.
Whanau Ora works with 13 to 24-year-olds in need of a little extra help in achieving their goals and aspirations.
How many people does the trust employ?
Currently we have 27 permanent staff and numerous volunteers.
How does the trust get funding?
We receive grants and hold contracts with the Ministry of Social Development, Ministry of Youth Development, Work and Income, Department of Internal Affairs, Rotorua Energy Charitable Trust and several gaming trusts. We also are a provider in Te Arawa Whanau Ora collective.
We believe the award recognises the hard work that goes into achieving the goals that have been set by our clients and staff. We are so proud of our rangatahi and fully live by our "By Youth, For Youth" concept.
Was it a surprise to win?
We were humbled by the award but also fully believe in the services we deliver and the potential of our clients.
Who is largely responsible for the trust's success?
Our rangatahi. They are the reason we are here. Their success is our success.
Where to now for the trust? What are the future goals?
We plan to keep responding to the needs in our community while adapting to the social, government policy and funding changes in the future. We strive to stay relevant to our younger generation while sticking to our kaupapa. We recognise that when we work with young people we work with the whole whanau and we want to stay strong in our whakawhanaungatanga.
What more needs to be done to make this a reality?
To best deliver our services in the community we need to maintain our high standards and meet our contracted outcomes. Holding on to our contracts and having a good relationship with our funders is a good start.
- Answered by Te Waiariki Purea Trust youth service co-ordinator and communications adviser Erin Majurey.
