Fancy a dip?

Take time out with whānau at Splash Palace this weekend for Ngā Kete Mātauranga Pounamu Charitable Trust’s first ever Murihiku Manu Dive Bomb Event.

Fun for the whole family including a paua diving competition and one, three, and five-metre dive bombs, a sausage sizzle and prize-giving at the conclusion of the event.

The event is being held in conjunction with Gambling Harm Awareness Week 2020, and is all about bringing whānau together.

​TXT2X has this week been relaunched at Ngā Kete Mātauranga Pounamu Charitable Trust in line with a nationwide update in exclusion software.

The name TXT2X means text to exclude, and the initiative supports people concerned about their gambling to exclude themselves from multiple gaming (pokie machine) areas using the Multi Venue Exclusion (MVE) process. People are asked to send the word TXT2X to 3165 (at no cost) and will then be contacted by a Ngā Kete staff member within 24 hours to arrange an appointment for MVE support, information, advice and gambling harm support. Best of all, it is free!

“We can all help someone somewhere and we are positively resourcing women and girls.”
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These words from local wahine Taylor Hill, who has launched a Days For Girls group in Southland, with the backing of Nga Kete Matauranga Pounamu Charitable Trust, to provide women’s hygiene products to those in need.

Days For Girls is a network of thousands of volunteers across the world who provide reusable menstrual kits, education, awareness, and dignity to women and girls in need. Its website says it was started in 2008 in Nairobi when founder and CEO Celeste Mergens learnt that girls were missing school, sometimes going without food, and sitting on cardboard for several days each month.

​Two Invercargill men in partnership with local welfare organisations are presenting a free community event this week to celebrate Disability Pride Week.

Disability Pride Week, September 16-22, is a national event that promotes visibility and mainstream awareness of the positive pride felt by people with disabilities within their community. This year’s theme is Setting the Agenda “We are setting the agenda, showcasing our creativity and feeling proud of ourselves and our communities.”

Invercargill men Jack Lovett-Hurst and Angus Dobbie are hosting the event in partnership with Nga Kete Matauranga Pounamu Charitable Trust, Southland DisAbility Enterprises, Habitat for Humanity and AccessAbility, to be held at the Pacific Islanders Advisory and Cultural Trust on Wednesday 18 September 2019.

The Invercargill Licencing Trust and two clubs are supporting Gambling Harm Awareness Week this week by pausing their pokies for a set time during the week.
 
While the campaign aims to get venues to pause their pokies for an hour during the week, Club Southland and the Invercargill Workingman’s Club are raising the bar and will be pausing their pokies for an hour every single day this week.
 
Nga Kete Matauranga Pounamu Charitable Trust Health Promoter Eru Loach said the Pause The Pokies campaign provides opportunities for individuals to have a Pause from their gambling.

Nga Kete Matauranga Pounamu Charitable Trust’s low-cost GP service is set to extend once again.

He Puna Waiora Wellness Centre, which is run by Nga Kete Matauranga Pounamu Charitable Trust, has opened its doors to a brand new pharmacy, which is set to open early September.

The pharmacy is a joint initiative between Nga Kete and community pharmacists Steve Jo, Tae Song and Terry Son. Mr Jo said he had always dreamt of opening a pharmacy within a medical centre to enable medical professionals to work seamlessly together to look after whanau.

Scorpions, anyone?

Nga Kete Matauranga Pounamu Charitable Trust is again organizing Re-O, and with scorpions on the menu, an opportunity to dip your face in some jello and whip up a raw-vegan baking delight, it’s shaping up to be like no other!

The three-day event will kick off Wednesday 10 July with a powhiri at 11.00am at Hansen Hall, Tay St Campus, followed by a market day and games such as guess how many in the jar, big jenga and balloon darts with a host of fabulous prizes up for grabs.

Organiser Mana Wright, of Nga Kete, said similar to Orientation Week at the beginning of the year, the event will celebrate local community and the student’s journey at SIT. Check the timetable attached for full details.

​Professional wrestling, a fear factor eating competition and a well-known musician will feature at this year’s Southern Institute of Technology Orientation Week.
 
Nga Kete Matauranga Pounamu Charitable Trust is organizing the annual event for the sixth time to welcome new and returning students onto campus.

Nga Kete Matauranga Pounamu Charitable Trust is organizing this year’s Southern Institute of Technology Re-Orientation Week.

The three-day event will kick off tomorrow with a powhiri at 11.00am at Hansen Hall, Tay St Campus, followed by a market day and games such as guess how many in the jar, big jenga and balloon darts with a host of fabulous prizes up for grabs.

Nga Kete Matauranga Pounamu Charitable Trust Iwi Community Panel Co-ordinator Mana Wright will represent New Zealand at the 63rd Session of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in Geneva, Switzerland next week.
Mana Wright, 25, has been selected to attend through the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Indigenous Peoples on the basis of the work Nga Kete is doing in collaboration with the NZ Police, developing alternative resolution processes that seek to reduce Maori and community entry into the criminal justice system for low-level offending.