Category: New Zealand Government

A partnership between us, Palmerston North City Council and Sport Manawatū has transformed the Wharenui Walkway between Rangiora Avenue and Wharenui Terrace into a colourful, inviting space filled with play opportunities.

The walkway has always been an essential asset for the community. Many tamariki and whānau walk along daily as it’s the connecting link between the Roslyn community and Terrace End School. It also crosses a new Kāinga Ora social housing development of 14 homes.

Manumea Durie, Play Advisor at Palmerston North City Council, spotted an opportunity to enhance the walkway and worked with Sport Manawatū on how it could provide play opportunities for all ages, abilities and backgrounds.

“Play is for everyone and it’s an amazing way to bring people together and make a space feel more vibrant, safe and welcoming,” says Manumea. “We also know that play has a huge impact on someone’s mental, physical and emotional health.”

Whitney Le Comte, Tamariki Advisor at Sport Manawatū, utilised the existing relationships with Terrace End School to ask students to come up with suggestions about which play elements they wanted to see on the walkway. The tamariki submitted various ideas, including lots of colour and positive affirmations.

“We gave the ideas to a local artist who used the student’s themes alongside some classic play-on-the-way designs to create the walkway,” says Whitney. “It was important that the tamariki got to see some of their ideas within the playful activation in their community for a sense of belonging.”

Kāinga Ora Senior Housing Support Manager Lusia Luamanu, who supports Kāinga Ora customers to live well in their homes, says the walkway is a great opportunity to connect (new) customers with the wider community.

“It is wonderful to see so many people enjoying the new walkway. Kids especially seem to enjoy running, jumping, hopping, and skipping, which are so important for developing their fitness, coordination, endurance, and strength,” ends Whitney.

Watch a short video of the new Wharenui walkway(external link).

Page updated: 27 November 2024

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“This place has given me the chance to get back on my feet. It’s meant I’ve fully brought the value of work back into my life again,’’ says Amye.

Amye spent much of her twenties working in Australia, but her life took an unexpected turn when she moved to Mosgiel to support her sister and niece through some personal struggles. Further changes in her sister’s life meant Amye was left to look after her niece by herself.

“It was a massive thing for me to suddenly be looking after a teenager! But I knew I had to carry on and do the best I could for the sake of my sister,” Amye says.

When her niece eventually left home, she began to ponder her own next steps.

“I decided it was time to put myself first again. I always like to feel useful, to feel like I’m contributing to something and that’s what I had been missing.

“I needed to get back to where I was before all of that, and that’s when I came across the ‘The Bowling Club’ in Dunedin,” Amye explains.

A community eatery, The Bowling Club is an affordable food organisation providing cheap, wholesome meals to the people of Dunedin. Having grown from humble beginnings in a food truck to a full-scale operation, The Bowling Club was in need of extra hands at the time Amye was itching to start working again.

“They liked me and I started helping them out so I could get back in the groove of working. I was stoked, I had a purpose in life again.”

The Bowling Club was well-suited to Amye’s skillset – previously she had worked as a deli service manager – and she thrived being amongst food preparation processes again and interacting with the people who visited the Club for belly-warming goodness.

But it’s a recent move to a new Kāinga Ora home in Dunedin, that’s been even more life-changing.

“Because my lovely new home is closer to The Bowling Club I’ve been able to commit to more hours there and get more involved in the day-to-day running of the place.”

Her work ethic and drive to get daily tasks done were quickly recognised and Amye has recently been offered paid work and more hours at the Club.

Reflecting on this, Amye is glowing about what her new Kāinga Ora home has done for her.

“I’m excited for the future for the first time in a while. I’m now The Bowling Club’s Front of House Manager – something I never would’ve entertained if it wasn’t for the way my life has changed thanks to this home.

“And I can’t wait to have my first Christmas here!”

Page updated: 26 November 2024

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The three school holiday intakes saw a total of 54 aspiring students come together from Auckland Seventh Day Adventist High School, Southern Cross College, Papakura High School, Alfriston College, James Cook High School, Otahuhu College and Waiuku College.

In term two, Azeala from Alfriston College jumped at the chance to gain hands-on experience with Panorama Painters. “I currently take a building course at the MIT Tec Park in Manukau, and this programme has helped me see a lot of the practical side of what carpenters do. I want to make a future out of this.”

Mika from Papakura High School worked with Hauraki Plumbing and really enjoyed the varied nature of the work. “We replaced leaky taps, we went under the house, we used tools, we fixed toilets. I really enjoyed it. It was a hands-on job, where you look at a problem and work out how to fix it. You have to use your brain and also use physical labour.”

During each school term, the Downer Trades Resource Team visit secondary schools in South Auckland, which is the area they service under their Kāinga Ora maintenance contract. They talk about the benefits of gaining trade skills and recruit keen students to the next intake of the cadetship programme.

Kevin Barry, Senior Trades Resource Manager at Downer explains.

“The students let us know the trades that interest them, and we pair them up with our subcontractors for the full two weeks, working on Kāinga Ora homes. Plumbing and carpentry are very popular, followed by electrical works, and recently we’ve offered project management, too.”

“The students learn a variety of technical skills, giving them invaluable experience of the real working world and the chance to see for themselves the opportunities that lay ahead if they choose a career in the trades.”

“At the end of the second week, a graduation ceremony is held for the students. The subcontractors are there and always cheer loudly as their students go up to collect their certificates. The proud family members are always thrilled and thankful that their tamariki got to experience this opportunity. It’s awesome.”

Nigel Chandra, Kāinga Ora Construction Plus Manager, explains that the cadetship programme started over five years ago with just five students, and it now averages around 20 students per term.

“It’s important to Kāinga Ora that we can help build connections for those within our communities. This programme gives students a chance to gain autonomy, capability and capacity to then head into employment.”

This year, the New Zealand Building and Construction Industry Training Organisation (BCITO) has partnered with the programme to offer students credits for the attending. Those credits count towards a formal apprenticeship, if the student decides to go down that path.

“This year we have really been fortunate to bring in BCITO,” says Nigel. “They offer up to twenty valuable credits to students who are on the programme. This means a lot for the students – it gives them a head start.” 

Page updated: 22 November 2024

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Tali and Tui say coaching boxfit is their way of being good role models to children, both their own and the neighbours. More than anything else in life, they aspire to be good dads.

“We didn’t have great childhoods, and we remember feeling lonely and unwanted,” says Tali who, with his wife Siu, has four children. “It’s important to me that my kids feel loved and wanted. I believe that what children need most is time, so I spend as much time as possible with them.”

Tali started boxfit sessions two years ago with his son, Kele, now 10. “He was getting bullied, and he asked me to teach him how to fight. I said, ‘You don’t need to know how to fight, you need to know how to make friends.’

“I thought boxfit looked like something fun we could do together, so I bought a punch bag and gloves then googled the instructions. Right away, neighbourhood kids asked to join in. Since then, I’ve focused on helping all the kids gain confidence and fitness, to be leaders.”

Soon, coaching sessions were so popular that Tali needed help. He called on his brother-in-law Tui and approached Kāinga Ora for support. Kirsten, Coordinator for Community Development and Engagement, helped them assemble a collection of boxing gear, and to timetable regular sessions in the complex’s shared spaces. Sparring practise is closely supervised inside the community room, while fitness drills continue in the playground.

Now the pair run a free after-school programme three afternoons a week, coaching around 20 children per session.

“What Tali and Tui are doing is very generous and it’s having a hugely positive impact on the children. Now they’re demonstrating leadership qualities by looking out for each other and taking care of the community room,” says Kirsten.

“This is exactly what our community rooms are about: spaces where customers can come together to share their knowledge and skills, to get to know each other. It’s not about boxing, it’s about relationships.”

For Tali and Tui, it’s a dream come true. “For us, life is about giving what we have to kids because you don’t know what they’re going through. Maybe they’re not getting what they need, and we can do something small to make a difference,” says Tui. “We’re there to give what we can – maybe through our classes we can make a kid who’s sad feel good.” 

Page updated: 21 November 2024

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Caroline, who has been in her Kāinga Ora home for 6 years since her eyesight started declining, is a self-published writer of a children’s book called Norman Guinea Pig and his big adventure, which is based on a true story.

The book is stocked in bookshops and other stores across Nelson Tasman, including Paper Plus, with Caroline selling 360 copies since it was published a year ago.

Caroline says the real-life version of Norman Guinea Pig lived with her family on a farm near Nelson and was a much-loved pet of hers from the age of 8.

“I named my guinea pig after my Uncle Norman, who was my favourite uncle. He was tall and skinny so I got a bit of flak for naming my guinea pig after him because Norman Guinea Pig was big and fat. Norman Guinea Pig always lived inside with us,” Caroline explains.

Norman Guinea Pig and his big adventure, which is aimed at five to eight-year-olds, is the tale of a guinea pig who is cared for by a little girl called Polly and feels lucky to “to have a family who loved me as much as I loved them”.

One day he goes on a big adventure and gets lost, just like Caroline’s pet guinea pig did. “Norman was lost for 3 months and we found him in a culvert on the farm,” Caroline says.

Caroline, who worked in hospitality before retirement, said she was inspired to write her first book during the first Covid lockdown. “It’s my first piece of writing and it was just in my head. I’ve had a very busy life so I thought: ‘I must get it all out of my head’.

“I was up on the walking track near my house during the first lockdown and all the ideas were swirling around in my head. It was a Tuesday night and I thought: ‘Tomorrow, I’m going to write everything down’ and it took me an hour and a half once I got started.”

Due to her deteriorating eyesight, Caroline handwrote the book and passed it to a Blind Foundation volunteer who then typed it up for her.  After finding a local illustrator to bring Norman and the other characters to life in colour, the book was ready for Caroline to publish it. She has since done all her own publicity of the book, including approaching businesses to stock it.

Caroline has just finished writing another book and is now looking for a publisher for it. She also has ideas for another three books.

She says she still can’t believe what’s happened since deciding to take the plunge as an author.

“Sometimes you have to pinch yourself to believe that you can go from having no experience doing something to just doing it. It’s all about never giving up on your dreams.” 

Page updated: 19 November 2024

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