In 2000, we put a proposal to the Far North District Council to establish programmes in Kaikohe. The plan was to work collaboratively with three other effective not-for-profit organisations: Great Potentials, Kiwi Can, and Parenting with Confidence, to deliver programmes for much of the Kaikohe population, from pre-school through to parenting. Our organisation at the time was called Project K, after the programme we delivered to year 10 students and our target group were the students at Northland College. For this school, we developed a programme called Stars, which trained senior students to be peer mentors to junior students. The coalition approach was spectacularly successful, but after 4 years, the funders said, ‘Great, that worked, thanks, we’ll now put our funding elsewhere.’ We reluctantly, and with a heavy heart, pulled the pins on a project that had proved itself so well
Twenty-six years later, we are back as the Graeme Dingle Foundation determined that this time funding will be sustainable, and we will still be in Northland long after I have popped my clogs.
We are well established in the Kaipara region, thanks to the generosity of Ric and Suzanne Kayne, and a partnership with Te Uri o Hau. We are also at Bay of Islands College.
Today, 22 June as the sun rises brightly over Mangere, I am greeted by the CEO of THL, Grant Webster, who is a giant of a man both in stature and business acumen. Fifteen minutes later I drive away in a luxury Maui motorhome, and head north through busy Auckland traffic. My destination was Maungaturoto.
Te Tai Tokerau literally means northern tides. It is a region rich in Māori culture and while there are many tribes or iwi, the main ones are Ngati Whatua and Ngapuhi. The area is rich in coastal features, especially generous bays and harbours. The Kaipara is the one of the largest harbours in the world, boasting 2,000 kilometres of coastline from Dargaville in the northwest, through Maungaturoto, and to the south Helensville. On the east coast is the fast developing town of Mangawhai.
Luxuriating in the smooth travel of my Mercedes van and the great northern motorway, I pass Orewa on my right and then Warkworth. A little further north I cross the first estuaries and rivers running into the Kaipara Harbour, and turn left at Brynderwyn, which apparently means oak covered hills in Welsh. A few kilometres on I’m in Maungaturoto and my first visit is to Otamatea High School, where I meet with Acting Principal, Nicky Cotching. We talk candidly about our programme in the school, Career Navigator Ngā Ara Whetū, which has senior students supporting juniors, and helps all pupils towards a life purpose. Nicky praises the enthusiasm of our Programme Co-Ordinator, Josie Gritten. I’m particularly proud of Maugaturoto because most of the young people here are in our programmes. In the primary school, led by the amazing Principal, Margie Hutcheson, the children do Kiwi Can, which teaches good values such as integrity which one bright kid described as ‘doing the right thing even when no one is watching.’ A principal recently told me that Kiwi Can was the most incredible thing she had seen in 40 plus years of teaching. ‘We haven’t had on stand-down since the programme came into our school’ she told me.
That’s day one -tomorrow it’s Whangarei, Bay of Islands, and Kaitaia.