Funding top up for Hokianga Kupe centre project

@Gettyimages

It been a voyage as long as Kupe’s from Hawaiki but Te Hua o te Kawariki Trust is a step closer to building a visitor centre at Opononi to celebrate the Polynesian pathfinder.

The trust, which brings together the area’s four marae, has received a $650,000 grant from Foundation North towards the project.

That’s on top of the $4.6 million earmarked from the Provincial Growth Fund.

The Manea – Footprints of Kupe cultural heritage centre was first mooted 15 years ago as a way to tell the story not just of Kupe but of Polynesian navigation and Ngāpuhi history.

It will employ 15 full-time staff, as well as up to 20 volunteers.

Foundation North chief executive Jennifer Gill says the foundation’s new strategy is to support community initiatives that address inequalities, strengthen regional social cohesion, achieve positive outcomes for children and young people, enable community-led economic development, and enhance the region’s natural environment.

Other grants in the latest $6 million round include almost $300,000 for Moerewa’s He Iwi Kotahi Tātou Trust, which runs a range of education and social programmes, $275,000 to the Rise Up Trust in South Auckland, $165,000 to Ngāti te Ata’s Te Ara Rangatahi, and $160,000 for Mountains to Sea Conservation Trust’s work in Northland and South Auckland.

Follow us on &

Copyright © 2018, UMA Broadcasting Ltd: www.waateanews.com

RELATED NEWS

Windfall for Maori law research Parata slates karanga protest Fish quota model copied for water