Thriving in Northland

Like many great ideas, Tāmati Rākena and Jude Campbell’s plan to support Māori students was the result of a lightbulb moment that occurred after a few sleepless nights, trying to find a way to solve the challenges life was throwing their way.

The couple was 100 percent committed to their Te Tai Tokerau home, but they struggled to find the academic and financial resources they needed as post-graduate students living remotely. So, they did exactly what you’d expect leaders in the education space to do – they created their own source of support.

Rākena and Campbell joined forces with fellow students Hōhepa Ramanui and Moana-Aroha Henry and formed Tahunakura Charitable Trust. Their aim was to create an organisation that would support and nurture tertiary students, while promoting and developing the understanding and use of te reo Māori.

“There’s not much up here in the north in terms of tertiary libraries, and academic support with face-to-face contact and critical feedback,” says Rākena.

“So we came up with a plan to fill that need.”

The trust held its first tertiary study wānanga in Whangarei at the end of 2019, with an emphasis on providing academic support and workshops on writing from a Māori world view.

As news about the trust spread, the wānanga have become increasingly wellattended. While that delighted the founders, it required further brainstorming to find the money to keep going.

“What we didn’t want was to provide more challenges for whānau who were already

struggling with bills,” says Rākena.

The answer came through with the establishment of the My Taiao – Clothing and Apparel, a social enterprise whose sales would further support the aspirations of the trust.

“We only did 100 garments to start with,” says Rākena. “But they sold out within about four days.”

The trust is one of a number of organisations all around the country that has received support from the ASB Local Community Fund, launched last year to help the bank’s local teams throughout Aotearoa support initiatives that contribute to their community’s wellbeing.

ASB Acting Regional Manager Chris Falkner says Rākena and Campbell were speakers at an ASB sponsored event hosted by Sport Northland and shared their passion for education and Māori academic achievement.

“After the event we connected with Jude and Tāmati to discuss how we might support their kaupapa/objectives and offer assistance via the Local Community Fund. The first step was to provide funding for wānanga they host throughout the year for tertiary students to support with research and fellowship,” he says.

“The next step is our people power, with volunteers across our Advice Centre network, particularly in Kaikohe, Kerikeri and Whangarei, chomping at the bit to volunteer and support with expertise in financial literacy.”

Falkner says work done by Rākena, Campbell and other trustees aligns perfectly with the Local Community Fund’s commitment to communities.

“Their commitment to the growth and achievement of tangata Māori, ethos of hard work, achievement and whanau, is magnetic.”

Rākena says ASB’s support has literally been a game changer.

“Funding from ASB has allowed us to pay for some essential things like our online platform and other costs associated with the trust and it took so much pressure off us, especially during the times when Covid was just slamming us and we weren’t able to get out in the community.”

He says alongside the financial support, the offers of practical support have been overwhelming.

“We were speechless when they offered to have some of their kaimahi come and volunteer at our wānanga, and with anything we needed. Having people willing to share their time is quite rare.”

If your group would like your local initiative to be considered by the ASB Local Community Fund send

your proposal through to