CNA Member Spotlight: Get to Know COLAB

Community Networks • March 16, 2023

Each month, we like to take the opportunity to put the spotlight on just one of our incredible member organisations – to take a deeper look at their missions, mahi, and impact they’re making in their communities. Today we’re spotlighting COLAB, the network working collaboratively to achieve a sustainable thriving, community in Te Puke.

Who is COLAB and what do they do?

COLAB was established late in 2017 to better enable its members to work collectively to support Te Puke. Te Puke is a town located 18 kilometres southeast of Tauranga in the Western Bay of Plenty of Aotearoa. The people of Te Puke get plenty of vitamin C, because the town is the hub of the kiwifruit growing industry!

COLAB works with various charities and for purpose organisations to:

Connect and network to make folks aware of all the resources that are available in their community.
Collaborate and work together to achieve better outcomes for their community.
Create initiatives to build a stronger community.
Communicate for the community in a position of advocacy, particularly for those that are not heard.

COLAB Initiatives:

The key areas that COLAB focus on are:

Housing:

Establishment of the Te Puke Housing solutions and brokerage service
Te Puke / Maketu based housing assessment and strategy
Housing related workshops and educative programmes

Community connection and cohesion:

Supporting training and development opportunities for the people of Te Puke, such as Te Reo Māori classes, Women’s computer literacy courses and sustainability workshops.
Supporting community led celebrations such as World Fest, Christmas in the Park and Matariki.

Responding to local trends and opportunities:

Community wellbeing and resilience projects
Food security programme - supporting a range of Kai Security and sovernity projects across the community
Youth development projects
Local volunteering solutions

Upcoming Events Supported by COLAB:

Wilde Weeds Workshop in Conjunction with Neighbours Aotearoa – Saturday 18th March

Linda-Mary Barrat teaches the community about the wonder of weeds, including how to identify and use common garden weeds both medicinally and as a food sources.

Event info: https://www.facebook.com/events/730734225304156/?ref=newsfeed

Neighbours Month – March

An initiative to encourage whānau to meet up with their neighbours and enjoy morning tea, a potluck or a game of footy in the park.

Event info: https://neighboursaotearoa.nz/register-your-idea?fbclid=IwAR2jnuy1u0jEdkj4cBOs4Ew5Fw1Cvq6pwQhTU-OyI5h9HIbzel_6coPqxdg

Skate Fest – Saturday 18th March

An epic Skate Fest hosted by Drop Deep Skateboarding. Held at Jubilee Park, Te Puke.

Event info: https://www.facebook.com/events/168801082597572/?ref=newsfeed

A huge shoutout to COLAB for all the awesome mahi they are supporting in their community.

Want to learn more? Head over to www.colabcommunity.nz to see more marvellous mahi.

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Hapori Aotearoa Conference Wrap-Up

By Community Networks • March 10, 2025

Last week Patrick represented CNA at the Hapori Aotearoa – Growing Communities Together in sunny Tauranga presented by Inspiring Communities and the Tauranga City Council. A two-day conference focused on providing practical resources amplifying community development. With each day having multiple concurrent workshops there were difficult (and esciting) choices to be made. The hottest topics were Social Return On Investments / Social Investment, Te Tiriti, and (no surprise) funding within the Sector. There were great speakers and a lot of table korero, spilling of tea, and sharing ideas and resources. Did you know there is a Regional Data Explorer on the Social Investment Agency website ? How might organisations use this to target their mahi and applications? “The Social Investment Agency’s Regional Data Explorer supports access to data for regional and sub-regional decision-making. It brings together 70 datasets or 'indicators' which can be filtered to meet a particular need." Another great workshop (Belinda Gorman ) looked into connecting with businesses to explore various ways of funding. Looking at alignment, how to approach and creating that relationship. One contribution we were able to make was a handy dandy doc on how to use the free version of ChatGPT to create a start – how to create a document that begins your journey on support, sponsorship and funding. Here it is – Using ChatGPT to Get $. And it was a great chance to catch up with Members – SociaLink (also a supporter of the conference); Volunteer Kapiti and Community Networking Trust. It was a time to catch up with friends from other organisations and to make new connections, both strengthening our reach around the Motu. Whilst conferences are expensive, attending can hit many birds with one stone and its important to get out of your own area, headspace to remind yourself that you are not alone in what’s going on; that there are people with ideas around you; and that (while it can be a draining experience) it is a fantastic way to recharge your spirit. We look forward to hosting our Members at our Members’ Only Hui on Friday, 7th November in Te Whanganui-a-Tara /Wgtn for exactly those reasons. Oh, did I mention it’s also our 50th Anniversary celebrations? Patrick Davies, Engagement Officer