Brown Pride team before Discipline Games 2023. Photo / Brown Pride Facebook
Brown Pride team before Discipline Games 2023. Photo / Brown Pride Facebook
Brown Pride, a locally owned gym in South Auckland offering in-house counseling and physical therapy will soon employ the services of a GP and counselor for women with the help of funding secured through Le Va’s $1 million Suicide Prevention Community Fund for 2023.
The gym “by the people, for the people” isn’t just a place to lose weight and gain muscle; members say it’s a safe space where friends become family.
It has an on-site barber set up, content and music studio for young people to make their creative dreams a reality, a clothing brand, and it’s the home of record label 216 Records.
Brown Pride is the dream of a group of Manurewa locals, headed by Johnnie Timu (27, Samoan), built on a passion for incubating positive change in the community.
“It’s a social enterprise empowering Pasifika and Māori through fitness, arts and community. We go out into the community, do volunteer work, and we hold events in the gym like our market day. We send out our barbers to do homeless outreach and our musicians sing at events. It’s a bit of everything.
“With the support of Le Va we can give professional mental support to our 120-plus members.”
On Friday nights the gym hosts kava and gaming, providing a safe space for men to talanoa and open up about their life struggles, streamlining them into one-on-one guidance from a mental health professional if needed.
Le Va, a Pasifika-led non-government organisation, administers the Pasifika Suicide Prevention Community Fund on behalf of Te Whatu Ora.
11 community organisations including Brown Pride will receive support after a rigorous selection process led by Leilani Clarke, Le Va’s senior manager for Pacific suicide prevention, with support from an external panel.
Clarke says: “The fund supports our Pasifika communities to create innovative, safe and culturally relevant solutions to help prevent and respond to suicide. It’s encouraging to see our groups exploring new approaches, new ideas and new connections with the calibre of applications we see each year.”
Brown Pride empowers Māori and Pasifika through fitness, arts and community. Photo / Brown Pride Facebook
Another of Brown Prides funders, The Southern Initiative, an Auckland City Council entity tasked with innovating solutions to tackle some of south and west Auckland’s toughest social and economic challenges, was on the chopping block in Auckland City Council’s budget cut proposal in March.
But after public consultation, Mayor Wayne Brown has taken a U-turn: “I have listened carefully to public feedback and the views of elected members. There is just about a consensus that Auckland Council should not proceed with all the cuts to social and cultural spending that council staff proposed to me in December.”
Timu has a “southside” mentality, admitting that without the funding, he and his team would find a way to carry their enterprise with the help of the community and financial reinvestment.
“When you’re raised in South Auckland you always find a way. But the funding helps us with our reach. Le Va has made it easier for us.”
They’ve come a long way since 2017, when Brown Pride started as a group of mates working dead-end jobs. Timu brought the team together to brainstorm how to turn their passions into a career.
Brown Pride team from left to right.
Tino Mafoe, Johnnie Timu, Taalili Wilson, Reginald McFarland and Jairus Smith. Photo / Supplied by Johnnie Timu
“We were lucky that the community supported us in the beginning when we were running bootcamps. They just grew rapidly and the support was massive. Because we were giving more [value] than anyone else was giving, our members would always be on call if we needed volunteers. That helped carry us to where we are today. It’s like a family.”
Denise Kingi-’Ulu’ave, chief executive of Le Va says: “While specialist services provide a vital role, our families are critical in supporting someone in the early stages of distress. We must equip our communities with the knowledge, skills and confidence to prevent suicide. I wish all the successful recipients a heartfelt congratulations and all the best with their projects.”
Le Va also delivers two national suicide prevention programmes – FLO: Pasifika for Life aimed at Pacific people, and LifeKeepers for all New Zealanders.
With a mission of igniting communities and creating change, Le Va takes an evidence-based approach to its work spanning suicide prevention, mental health and addiction, disability, public health, violence prevention, and youth wellbeing. 2023 sees the organisation celebrating its 15-year anniversary.
The recipients of the Pasifika Suicide Prevention Community Fund for 2023 are:
Brown Pride – Yeah the Boys project
Bay of Plenty Youth Development Trust – AIGA Youth Resilience and Suicide Prevention Programme
Campfire Studios – Let’s get Pre-Sifik Season 2 project
Kila’s Style Trust – Dressed in Confidence Wellbeing Workshops
