Thanks to Sport Hawke’s Bay and the Tu Manawa funding we received from them, we have offered some of our tamariki opportunities they would not have otherwise received.
We recognise that when tamariki are attending after school care each day, the chance for them to take up extracurricular activities is limited. So, we decided to bring different activities to them.
Between July 2021 and April 2022, we provided tae-kwon-do, rugby, and hip hop at our Raureka After School Programme. It was amazing to see the group engage in a new activity and watch their improvement over the time the sessions were offered. Some tamariki showed real leadership skills, encouraging and helping the younger participants and demonstrating for the instructors.
We also used this fund to take around 150 children to a day of Waka Ama in the January school holidays. This was a firm favourite with those who attended, several children showed a real interest and were keen to continue with the sport.
In the April 2022 holidays our seniors (9-13 years) demonstrated their cycling skills and for some, their resilience! They cycled from Clive Domain out to Haumoana Domain, where we provided them with a sausage sizzle. Several were then shocked to discover they needed to cycle back again, but they all achieved it and enjoyed the day.
The Hastings seniors were particularly resilient as they also had to deal with light rain that day. It certainly gave them something to talk about and they all had a lot of fun.
Another highlight in April that was possible due to the Tu Manawa funding, was a visit to Acres Wild to learn about horses and horsemanship, with the chance to ride a horse. Many of the tamariki said this was their favourite day of the holiday programme. It was very special to witness the children who were initially very nervous around the horses to overcome their fears and actually ride a horse!
We are very grateful to Sport Hawke’s Bay who granted the funding and made these opportunities possible.
