Back to Blog

Live for More

For Jared Dixon, life felt like it was on a set path headed for prison. With many of his whānau in and out of prison, as a young child he wanted to experience life behind bars for a day, just to see what it was like. An upbringing surrounded by drugs, alcohol, gangs and violence soon led him to smoking weed every day from the age of 12. “A few years later, I tried meth for the first time, and I had no idea what I was getting myself into. As soon as I took meth, I turned into a different perso...

James Power Wins Youth Spirit Award

James Power has been announced as the winner of the Youth Spirit Award in the TECT Community Awards. The 18-year-old from Whakamarama moved to Christchurch this year to study Engineering at the University of Canterbury, but left his mark here in Tauranga. With his countless volunteering hours, academic achievements, and sporting accomplishments, James was recognised by the judges for embodying community spirit through his contribution to the region. A volunteer lifeguard at Omanu Surf Life Savi...

Vital insights from ‘Vital Update – Tauranga’

The findings from ‘Vital Update – Tauranga’ – a community research project that measures the wellbeing of communities – is now available at www.vitalupdate.org.nz, providing city-wide data that is useful to our whole community. The research findings identify significant trends in a range of areas related to quality of life, and capture the aspirations of the people that live, learn, work and play in Tauranga. Tauranga Mayor Tenby Powell says the research has provided fundamental i...

ICONZ Edge Programme Transforms Learning for Boys

There's eager faces, excitable chatter, and energetic spirits. It's the 2 hours each week these children look forward to most – time out of the classroom using their hands to make something that is uniquely their own creation. But this isn't a normal school lesson. This is the ICONZ Edge programme, run by The Boys Brigade in three schools around the Western Bay. The programme uses hands-on activities, primarily woodworking, to engage boys who are on the edge and struggling in school; helping s...

RRR - Rescue, Revive Rehome Win Rising Star Award

RRR - Rescue, Revive, Rehome has been announced as the winner in the Rising Star category of the TECT Community Awards. The charity, founded by Rowan Elliott and Siobhan Mikaere, has been finding loving homes for animals through rescue, foster care, veterinary services, adoption, and education since 2019, and has helped over 1800 animals since then. From kittens and horses, to turtles and sheep, no animal is turned away. “These animals don’t have a voice, so we are that voice for them. We ar...

$226,500 in COVID-19 Recovery Funding for Community Groups

The WBOP COVID-19 Recovery Fund has paid out its first round of grants, totalling $226,530 to nine community groups. The successful recipients include Brain Injured Children Trust, Tauranga Community Foodbank, House of Science Tauranga, Complex Chronic Illness Support, AIMS Games Trust, Te Tuinga Whanau Support Services, St Peters Care & Counselling, Alzheimer's Society Tauranga and Graeme Dingle Foundation Bay of Plenty. The Recovery Fund aims to support key Western Bay NFPs and NGOs to surviv...

The Search Party Charitable Trust Win Diversity and Inclusion Award

The winner of the Diversity and Inclusion category in the TECT Community Awards has been announced as The Search Party Charitable Trust. The Te Puke-based charity works to bring communities together to socialise, educate, collaborate, and maintain properties and gardens. The hub that feeds the operations of the charity is the Daily café. Run with a not-for-profit ethos, it is a community asset that not only produces delicious food and coffee, but does so to fund the many community initiatives ...

Plunket

They say it takes a village to raise a child.  One key member in that village for many Kiwi families is Plunket. While it can be an overwhelming, sleep deprived experience having a baby, Plunket is there every step of the way; providing free support services for the development, health and wellbeing of children under five years old and their whānau . The charity works hard to achieve healthy tamariki, confident whānau, and connected communities through their services. Whether its home vi...

Dress for Success

Victoria came from an ordinary family, with an ordinary upbringing. However, during her late teenage years, things changed. She fell into drugs and became a person that was not nice to be around. Her family disowned her, wrote her out of their lives, out of their home and out of their will. Broken, her behaviour while on drugs led to a conviction. Victoria knew she needed to turn her life around. After going through Drug Rehabilitation, Victoria moved from Christchurch to Tauranga to start anew...

Adastra Scholarships Support Young Athletes and Musicians

The Adastra Foundation, which assists extraordinary young New Zealanders on the national and international stage by providing financial and mentoring support, held a function last night with local supporter TECT at the Adams Centre. Guest Speaker Olympic Gold medallist rower Eric Murray spoke about goal setting, overcoming adversity, re-setting plans after disruption, and his top tips for being successful. In attendance were many of the 19 local athletes, musicians and arts performers supported ...

Good Neighbour Proud to Win Sustainable Future Award

Good Neighbour has been announced as the winner in the Sustainable Future category in the TECT Community Awards. The charity is well known in the region for their work. Whether distributing rescued food to local community groups, delivering firewood to those in need, carrying out backyard projects and building maintenance, or cultivating community gardens for people to grow their own food, they work to support those facing some of life’s toughest times with a friendly neighbourly hand.  B...

STEMFest Wins Event Excellence in TECT Community Awards

Tauranga STEM Festival (STEMFest) was announced as the winner of the Event Excellence Award in the TECT Community Awards last week. The first event of its kind to be held in New Zealand, STEMFest attracted 3,500 visitors who had the chance to explore over 40 exhibits. From extracting DNA to learning how to code, children and adults alike enjoyed a full day of exciting experiments and hands-on learning. STEMFest founder and project lead Tia Lush says the team are honoured to win the award. "We ar...

The Search Party Charitable Trust Feed Those in Need in Te Puke

The Search Party Charitable Trust (TSPCT) may not be a name familiar to most. But the organisation has been at the heart of Te Puke for seven years, keeping the community connected, fed, and educated through their many initiatives. From free pizza nights and weekly cooking classes teaching families how to make food go further, to a collaborative project supporting homeless clients by keeping them practically busy with backyard tidy-ups for those in need, TSPCT doesn’t fit the usual box of an o...

TECT Community Awards Launch Online Next Week

The TECT Community Awards are launching online next week. While the original March event was postponed due to the lockdown, the move to an online format will see finalists and winners announced over six weeks on the TECT Facebook and website, starting Monday 22nd June. TECT General Manager Wayne Werder says the move to an online format this year would allow the incredible work of community groups and volunteers to be shared with the broader community, in a new, innovative way. “The lockdown h...

Katikati Community Centre Collaborates to Meet Needs

Responding to the community’s needs in a time of crisis is no small effort for any organisation or business. But for the Katikati Community Centre, which services over 4,000 people in Katikati, a new collaborative approach has brought power in numbers, helping them support their community and its changing needs. Katikati Community Centre Manager Allan Wainwright established the Katikati Community Response Group alongside other local community organisations to support those most vulnerable thro...

Ngā Kākano Meet Unprecedented Demand at Level 2

Healthcare provider Ngā Kākano Foundation says their work has tripled since the move to Alert Level 2 as they address the backlog built up during lockdown. With unprecedented demand for flu vaccinations, prescription requests, and regular, accessible health information, the group has recognised they are unlikely to return to a pre-Covid-19 normal. Ngā Kākano Foundation Group Chief Executive Pia Callaghan says they are seeing several changes in the health needs of their community. “As more ...

Phase Two of COVID-19 Funding Now Available to Support Recovery

Local funders TECT, Acorn Foundation, BayTrust and Tauranga City Council have announced a transition to phase two of their COVID-19 funding support, with an aim to help key Western Bay of Plenty community groups survive the medium-term impact of Covid-19. While the initial Rapid Response Fund launched by the funders in April provided emergency support, this new WBOP COVID-19 Recovery Fund will aid the recovery phase; enabling the longer-term rebuild of the community sector. The fund is part two ...

Confirmed Candidates Announced for TECT Trustee Election

Nominations for the 2020 TECT trustee election closed at 12 noon, Friday 29 May. Independent Returning Officer, Warwick Lampp, says that this year there has again been strong interest in the election with 13 candidates nominated for the three positions available on the Trust. This compares to 19 in 2018, 11 candidates in 2016, and 19 candidates in 2014.  The confirmed candidates for the 2020 election are:BRIDGES NatalieCHAMBERLAIN RonFARMER PeterGEMMING RachaelHOLLAND BillKING PhilKLETCHKO ...

Homes of Hope Provides Stability for Children Amidst COVID-19

During lockdown, many families adjusted to new routines with children home full-time. Multi-tasking took on a new meaning, the work-life balance was thrown off-kilter, and the extra family time was cherished. But for the 6000+ Kiwi kids in foster care who have already had their life uprooted, the lockdown’s rules brought new fears to the forefront, wondering where they would go next and when they could see their families again. In foster care due to serious neglect and/or abuse, often se...

Stroke Foundation

Unable to walk or use his left side, Garry Hamnett’s stroke left him with difficult challenges to face. While at a friend’s house for dinner, Garry’s face started to droop and his arm became limp. Luckily his friend knew the signs of a stroke and immediately called for an ambulance. Garry was taken straight to Tauranga Hospital where he received urgent care. When Garry came around, he found himself in the acute stroke ward after being unconscious for five days. It was during this time tha...

Support Vital for Vulnerable Cancer Patients During COVID-19

“Cancer doesn’t stop for COVID-19, and neither have we,” says Shelley Campbell, Chief Executive of the Waikato/Bay of Plenty Cancer Society. The charity continued to operate through the lockdown, supporting hundreds of Kiwis with cancer. Shelley says the society’s support is more important than ever, with COVID-19 adding an extra element of stress for people impacted by cancer. “COVID-19 has affected all New Zealanders, but it’s been particularly relevant to us here at the Cancer Soc...

Awhina House Helps Homeless Women Through Alert Levels

It’s a house like any other in our neighbourhoods. There are beds providing the comfort of sleep, a kitchen full of home-cooked meals made with love, a garden tended to by green-fingered hands, and the chatter of family sharing goals for the future. The only difference is this household, and family, is made up of women who all share one thing in common; they are homeless. They now live at Awhina House—a shelter that nurtures, advocates for and supports the homeless women in Tauranga. Th...

Nepalese Association in BOP Gives Gift of Groceries for Newcomers

For Devendra (name changed), moving from Nepal to New Zealand was a big life decision. He arrived in February and had just started studying at Toi Ohomai when the lockdown was announced. While he was fortunate enough to find some other Nepalese students to share a flat with, with no job secured, this new challenge put him in a critical position. Struggling to pay for his accommodation and food, he reached out to the Nepalese Association in BOP—a non-profit group representing the Nepali co...

Katikati Christian Foodbank Says Peak Demand Soon to Come

While there has been a steady need for food parcels since the lockdown, the Katikati Foodbank believes peak demand will come once the wage subsidy is exhausted and the true financial impact is felt within the community. Katikati Christian Foodbank Communications Representative Pam Todd says concerns are being heard across the community, with many in Katikati facing the prospect of job losses, and high anxiety around putting food on the table for their family. “Many of those receiving food parc...

Community Groups Get Boost from Rapid Response Funding

From PPE equipment keeping a community centre running, and support for those with a learning disability, to the broadcasting of COVID-19 information for the Deaf community; there is need in every corner of our region. To help meet these needs, local funders TECT, Acorn Foundation, BayTrust and Tauranga City Council, have approved a further $39,276 in funding for twelve community groups in the Western Bay of Plenty. This brings the total funding approved through the Rapid Response Fund to $219,25...