Kete

Tātau Tātau o Te Wairoa Trust is pleased to announce Whai Mātauranga is now live for applications for 2025.

This is the first newsletter for the trust and forms part of a larger communications plan for the organisation. Much like our social media posts the newsletter is aimed at telling our whānau about what we’re up to. You may also notice a lot of newspaper and media articles about us which is also a part of our plan. These media articles are aimed at the wider public and promote what we are doing and how we can do more.

Work has continued on the establishment of the Taiao Operational Unit, being given the name by our Kaunihera Kaumatua, ‘Te Hā o Rangi, o Papa’.

In 2024, with the support of Te Puni Kōkiri and Te Aka Whaiora, we helped repair 24 homes across our community that were damaged by Cyclone Gabrielle. These repairs have been key to providing safe, warm, and healthy living spaces for whānau who were impacted by the cyclone and the June flood, ensuring they have a place to call home once again.

Mahia Beach Resort (formerly Mahia Beach Motel & Holiday Park), is proud to announce the completion of a three-month refurbishment. The iconic holiday destination officially reopened its doors over Labour Weekend last year, just in time for the summer season.

Tātau Tātau is making great strides in its Te Rauā residential development, with the first homes officially ready for move-in in February. Following a blessing and karakia on 16 December, a plaque was unveiled by Cushla Tangaere Manuel, MP for Ikaroa-Rāwhiti, and Katie Nimon, MP for Napier, marking a major milestone for our commitment to affordable housing in the region.

At Tātau Tātau o Te Wairoa, we are committed to creating meaningful opportunities for our whānau and strengthening the future of our community. One exciting initiative that we are currently running is a pre-employment training programme called Te Ara Tipu, designed to equip local Wairoa people with the skills and experience needed to enter the construction industry.

Haumako Tātau Tātau is making significant strides in the horticulture sector, with plans to develop 70 hectares of land for high-production orchards and crops.

We have been working with Dorothy Adams, ex-CEO for the Social Investment Agency, and an iwi leaders working group to develop our social investment approach. This approach is about investing in people, helping them now and setting them up for a better future. The goal is to prevent problems before they happen.

We successfully acquired the 103-year-old Wairoa Star in September after its closure in May, following a trend of local newspapers shutting down in the current media landscape. The closure of the Wairoa Star had left a significant gap, especially for those not on social media, who struggled to stay informed about local events.