Community-based health and wellbeing programmes are being taken to the next creative level with the help of funding from Maungakiekie-Tāmaki Local Board
Kāhui Tū Kaha is a Ngāti Whātua organisation and a not-for-profit provider of housing and mental health services across the Auckland region. The organisation is using the funding to take Kupenga Ora community wellbeing programmes out to local residents.
Funding is set to help the running of several initiatives across the ward, including:
- ‘Cooking Mastery Certificate’ at Onehunga Community Centre Kitchen Hub
- ‘Oranga Organic Gardening and Recycling’ at Royal Oak Community Gardens
- ‘Tūruapō Tumeke! Fresh Start for 2019’ at Te Oro Arts Centre in Glen Innes.
Additional resources for community projects
“The funding will assist with additional resources that can sometimes be difficult to cover, such as new aprons and cooking equipment, mosaics resources for recycled tables and planters, and colour-printing for cookbooks and workbooks,” says Marion Gordon-Flower, Service Manager at Kāhui Tū Kaha.
The ‘Cooking Mastery Certificate’ course gives participants an opportunity to gain experience and vocational opportunities in a full range of cooking techniques “with a focus on both healthy eating and gourmet flavours”.
“With the Oranga Organic Gardening and Recycling Programme, the practical is blended with the creative, offering a skills-based certificate in the different stages of creating and harvesting a garden.
"Alongside this, discarded objects such as BBQ tables and wooden chairs are recycled into objects of artistic beauty through restoration and mosaics.”
These programmes fit within a bigger picture of the arts, where Māori and Pasifika groups have led the way into sound recording, on-stage dance performances and art exhibitions.
The arts and wellbeing are intrinsically connected within the framework of Te Whare Tapa Whā, bringing benefits in each of the four taha: wairua, tinana, hinengaro and whānau.
For more information about Kupenga Ora programmes, contact Marion Gordon-Flower, Service Manager – marion.flower@kahuitukaha.co.nz. 027 700 3123.
