As winter well and truly sets in on the West Coast the Te Hono o Ngā Waka crew were out delivering firewood to whānau in need.

Tamariki engaged in a range of activities for Matariki at the after school programme with kaiako Naomi Smith. Each activity was linked to the stars for example, the Rain Train for Waitī, capturing chocolate fish with a spear for Waitā.

Te Hono o Ngā Waka and WestREAP staff celebrated Matariki in style at Buccleugh’s Restaurant with lovely gift boxes from Poipoia Ōtautahi.

The LifeKeepers Mana Akiaki seminar on 22 June provided some excellent tools and strategies for whānau to manage conversations about suicide with confidence.

Whānau were excited to korero with NZ’s famous actor, singer and comedian, Pio Terei, about his experiences raising tamariki and building awesome whānau.

Our Mokopuna Ora Kaimahi, Dani Tainui-Simon, collects food donated by New World customers for the Food Bank. Thank you to our wonderful community for pitching in!

The Wānanga for health and social service kaimahi at Arahura Marae was a relaxing day of learning and korero about the history of Ngāti Waewae, intergenerational trauma, decolonisation, te reo and tikanga.

The declonisation workshop at Arahura Marae on Sunday was a safe space for Māori to korero about “some really hard topics”.

The April School Holiday Programme was a hit with participants engaging in a range of activities including a movie, a swim at the pool, beach fun, harakeke raranga plus visits to the Kiwi House and Shantytown. Ka mau te wehi, programme organiser Courtney!

A Food Bank in Hokitika has been established to address food insecurity in our community.

Participants at our Kai and Korero event were happy to cook and share a meal together.

Whānau were excited to head out on Lake Kaniere in the new waka