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.
What is its purpose/what are the main 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.
