Healthy Families Te Ngira

16/06/2026

🚲 KAIEKE - Move With Mana: Rethinking the Journey to Work. 🚲

What if getting to and from work could improve your wellbeing, reduce your transport costs, strengthen your connection to te taiao, and contribute to a healthier future for our communities?

Recently, Healthy Families Te Ngira joined KAIEKE – Move with Mana to experience firsthand how eBikes can transform the way we move. Through the Work Ride initiative, workplaces can explore new ways to support active transport, helping remove barriers that often prevent people from choosing healthier and more sustainable ways to travel.

For Healthy Families Te Ngira, this kaupapa is about much more than bikes.

This kaupapa places people, whānau and community wellbeing at its centre, while recognising the importance of connection to culture, identity and the environments we live, work and move through. By supporting active transport, it creates opportunities for healthier lifestyles, stronger connections with te taiao, and greater wellbeing in everyday life.

It also encourages new ways of thinking about how we travel, fostering collaboration between workplaces, organisations and communities to support long-term change. By helping to remove barriers to active transport, this approach makes healthier and more sustainable travel choices easier to access, contributing to positive outcomes for people, whānau, communities and the environment, both now and for future generations.

Because when we move with mana, we create healthier futures together. 🌿

08/06/2026

Kirikiriroa... Your Voice Matters!!!

If you care about the negative effects of having another bottle store open in the Nawton community, make a submission to oppose.

Here is a Jotform to help people object: https://form.jotform.com/261366296893876
Otherwise, you can email your submission to [email protected]
The deadline for objections is Monday, 22 June 2026.

The last application for this location was declined in 2025 with a massive community pushback of 91 objections. Let's do it again. Have your say, big or small, your whakaaro matters.

Share this post and encourage others to have their say!

07/06/2026

Whānau Ora at Te Korowai Hauora o Hauraki supported by Thames-Coromandel District Council present Whānau Day Out Thames!

These winter holidays we’re excited to once again host Whānau Day Out, bringing another awesome collaboration event to Thames.

Join us for a fun and interactive event designed to bring together local whānau and connect them with health and community services across the Hauraki rohe.

🔸 Friday 17th July, 2026
🔸 Thames War Memorial Civic Centre, 200 Mary Street, Thames
🔸 10.00am-2.00pm

Free activities, free sausage sizzle, spot prizes, health checks and more.

22/05/2026

Ngā mihi, Healthy Families Rotorua for hosting such a meaningful and inspiring Ruru Parirau Hui Taumata. We're grateful to have been welcomed into a space filled with rich kōrero, laughter, whakaaro, and a strong sense of kotahitanga.

A massive tautoko goes out to all the guest speakers who generously shared their wisdom, lived experiences, and insights throughout the day. Every kōrero added depth to the kaupapa and reminded us of the power of coming together to strengthen outcomes for our whānau, hapū māmā, and pēpi.

We’re thankful to have been part of the journey and look forward to continuing these much needed conversations and collaborations for the betterment of generations to come.

18/05/2026

Learning from Super-Aged Societies: Prime Minister’s Scholarship Study Tour – Japan & Singapore.

A team from Rauawaawa Kaumātua Charitable Trust, including Shobana Reddy (Systems Innovator, Healthy Families Te Ngira), recently returned from a six-week Prime Minister’s Scholarship study tour through Japan and Singapore to learn how “super-aged societies” support people to live longer, healthier lives.

In Japan, where more than a quarter of the population is over 65, the team presented kaupapa Māori approaches at an international ageing conference in Tokyo, and visited the Ainu Cultural Centre to reflect on Indigenous identity, culture and wellbeing. Site visits across Japan also highlighted practical, place-based ideas such as age-friendly housing and the “Fukuoka 100” initiative.

A standout was Okinawa, visiting Ōgimi and Nakijin villages, part of Japan’s internationally recognised “Blue Zone”. In Ōgimi, the team met kaumātua who were still gardening daily in their late 80s, growing and sharing fresh kai, and checking in on neighbours like whānau. Their advice was simple and consistent: keep a routine, move your body every day, eat well, and stay connected to your hapori. The team also learned about shikuwasa, a local citrus that is grown, shared and celebrated, showing how everyday food traditions can sit at the heart of hauora. In Nakijin they visited a fit and spritely centenarian (104) cared for by whānau, her advice on stress: just let it go. The local GP caring for many centenarians offered the following advice: healthy ageing is influenced across the whole life span, not only in old age.

The tour concluded in Singapore at the World Ageing Festival 2026, where the team shared the 20-year journey of the Kaumātua Olympics, celebrating culture, movement and joy as essentials of wellbeing. While attending the 14th Asia Pacific Eldercare Innovation Awards dinner, the team also received a Special Recognition Award, recognising the impact and innovation of the Kaumātua Olympics and affirming the value of kaupapa Māori approaches on an international stage.

For Healthy Families Te Ngira, these Okinawa insights reinforce a prevention focus: designing age-friendly neighbourhoods where kaumātua can stay active, connected and supported close to home. As Aotearoa prepares for a growing older population, our opportunity is to strengthen the conditions for hauora, so ageing well becomes the everyday experience, not the exception.

04/05/2026

Hannah from Pinnacle Midlands Health Network recently shared insights into the powerful mahi happening across Waikato to support whānau to quit smoking and va**ng, once and for all.

Through their “Once and For All” service, dedicated Quit Coaches are working across communities, meeting people where they are (literally), and walking alongside them on their quit journey. With personalised support, ni****ne replacement therapy, and regular check-ins, the focus is on making quitting achievable, flexible, and whānau-centred.

A growing trend? More referrals for va**ng, especially from hapū māmā, highlighting just how fast this space is evolving. While va**ng may be less harmful than smoking, it’s not harmless, and its highly addictive, “always-in-hand” nature is making it harder for many to quit.

The message is clear: whether it’s smoke or v**e, support is available, and quitting looks different for everyone. From one-on-one coaching to group sessions, incentives, and community events, there are more pathways than ever to take that first step.

Because better health starts with informed choices... and the right support to back them. 💛

Find out more here.
https://www.pinnacle.co.nz/information.../once-and-for-all

Share this with someone who needs to hear it 💬

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29/04/2026

Go take a look at the incredible mahi our fellow Healthy Families System Innovators have been diving into across the motu.

The April ePānui is published, read about whānau teaching their own pēpi to swim safely using mātauranga passed down through generations, rangatahi in Te Tai Tokerau shaping how their town will grow for the next 30 years, hauora in school sport at Avondale College, and a hui taumata in Rotorua creating space for kōrero about Māori identity, whānau wellbeing, and alcohol.

🏘️ Invercargill: local walkways reimagined by the people who use them every day
🥗 Ōtautahi: schools getting cross-sector support for kai and wellbeing without adding to the load
🪴 Hutt Valley: Kōkiri Marae's pātaka kai still a lifeline for whānau, five years on
🌱 South Auckland: week one of a co-designed programme built by people living with diabetes

Link to the April ePānui in the comments below.

24/04/2026

After a five-year hiatus, the 2026 return of the Hauraki Games was more than an event revival, it reignited connection, identity, and collective wellbeing across the rohe. Held at Te Puru o te Rangi, Paeroa Domain, over 3,000 uri from 20 Marae and Pā came together in a vibrant space for whānau to reconnect, be active, and celebrate their Haurakitanga. At the heart of it all was a clear kaupapa: whakawhanaungatanga is key, reflected in the way Marae arrived in unity, whānau supported one another, and shared spaces throughout the day.

From a Healthy Families Hauraki perspective, the Games demonstrated systems change in action, intentionally creating environments where Hauora is visible, accessible, and grounded in Tikanga. The opening hikoi set a powerful tone of tuakiritanga and pride, while a wide range of activities, from Netball and Touch to Kaumātua and Tamariki games, encouraged participation across all ages. A standout was the revival of Tapu Ariki, reinforcing the importance of embedding Mātauranga Māori into spaces of play and movement.

The event prioritised values over victory, with awards recognising sportsmanship, high ihi, and Marae who embodied Manaakitanga, Whanaungatanga, and Hauora. Beyond the fields, it also functioned as a wellbeing hub, connecting whānau to health services, mirimiri, and community support in a trusted environment.

Hinemoana Collier, Systems Innovator for Healthy Families ate Ngira Hauraki, played a key leadership role in both planning and delivery, reflecting systems-level collaboration and community-led impact, while also contributing as a proud uri of Hauraki.

Looking ahead, the Hauraki Games will now become a bi-annual event, with the next gathering set for 2028 at Rhodes Park in Thames. The momentum continues to build, grounded in strong relationships and a shared vision for thriving communities. Ultimately, the Games show that when we design with our people, we create more than events... we create movement toward stronger connections, healthier environments, and lived experiences of Hauora, because Whakawhanaungatanga is key.

Hauraki Games Te Korowai Hauora o Hauraki