Te Ara Kauhoe and Taurikura Investment Shows Systems Level Support
Healthy Families East Cape are proud to share that Taurikura and Te Ara Kauhoe have received a significant $160,000 investment to strengthen water safety and whānau wellbeing in Te Tairāwhiti. This represents an intentional investment into local prevention infrastructure. It reflects trust in the kaupapa, confidence in local leadership, and a shared commitment to long-term prevention. Together with our kaupapa partners, we have worked to bring new investment into our region that supports both immediate delivery and future sustainability.
Taurikura has received a significant boost this year, receiving $10,000 from Whiti Ora Tairāwhiti through the Tū Manawa Active Aotearoa Fund. This fund supports projects that remove barriers to participation and strengthen opportunities for tamariki and whānau to be active and connected. This investment will help Taurikura continue to grow, ensuring more whānau can access water confidence and safety learning in ways that reflect our local taiao.
Alongside this, HFEC supported Comet Swimming Club to receive $150,000 through a successful application to the Mangatawa Williams Beale Memorial Trust at the end of 2025 for our kaupapa, Te Ara Kauhoe. Of this funding, $50,000 will support the operations of Te Ara Kauhoe, and a further $50,000 will be invested into the Comet Swimming Club endowment fund that has been established to strengthen long-term sustainability. Annual returns from this investment will support Te Ara Kauhoe into the future. In total, $150,000 has been invested for Te Ara Kauhoe and Taurikura, alongside the $10,000 from Tū Manawa, bringing the combined resource flow influenced and supported by HFEC to $160,000.
Comet Swimming Club remains a cornerstone of delivery. As a long-standing Gisborne club committed to building strong swimmers and safer communities, Comet delivers the swimming instruction and technical coaching that sits at the heart of Taurikura’s puna wai-based learning. The recent establishment of its endowment fund strengthens the long-term foundation that Taurikura stands on.
In systems change mahi, the Six Conditions of Change helps us understand what needs to shift for long-term impact. What we are seeing through Taurikura and Te Ara Kauhoe is movement across several of those conditions.
First, resource flows are shifting. Funding is being diversified and structured to support both immediate delivery and long-term sustainability through an endowment model. That creates resilience in the local water safety system.
Second, relationships and connections are strengthening. HFEC has worked alongside Comet, funders, and kaupapa partners to align shared goals around prevention, whānau wellbeing, and water confidence. These partnerships increase collective impact.
Third, there is a shift in power dynamics. By supporting local capability and strengthening Comet’s charitable trust arm, delivery and decision-making remain grounded in the community.
Finally, while policies may sit nationally, these funding decisions demonstrate how local systems can adapt within wider constraints to protect prevention outcomes.
HFEC’s role in Taurikura and Te Ara Kauhoe is to unlock and align resource flows, broker relationships, and intentionally designing for long term system sustainability. While Comet leads the swimming sessions, HFEC helps ensure the kaupapa connects beyond the puna wai linking water confidence to place, whakapapa, and everyday life, and strengthening sustainability pathways so the programme can continue into the future.
In a region surrounded by awa and moana, these shifts matter. The combined $160,000 invested into Taurikura and Te Ara Kauhoe represents stronger foundations, shared leadership, and a prevention system that is better equipped to support tamariki and whānau now and into the future.
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