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Ngaa Mihi to our Kaitiaki Advisory Board

In May we held the final hui for our inaugural Kaitiaki Advisory Board.We were hosted by Waikato Regional Council and WEL Trust. The Kaitiaki’s term of three years commenced in August 2021 and was extended in mid-2024 to allow the Kaitiaki to oversee the independent review of the project, which was shared in our May update. The kaitiaki supported and facilitated the WWP through its first 4 years. The leadership and guidance of the kaitiaki was invaluable, had a major influence in clarifying ou...

Next Steps for the Waikato Wellbeing Project

The Review of the WWP concluded that while there is always plenty of room for improvement, the project is doing the right things and creating value. Regardless of what happens next, that value must not be lost and the investment made over the last 4-5 years cannot be wasted.The WWP needs to make decisions about its future, primarily because its main sources of funding are finite. The funding from the WEL Energy Trust was $3m, backed by a Partnership and Funding Agreement with the Waikato Regiona...

Waikato Kai Challenge Update

June was a powerful month for kai-focused kaupapa across the Waikato region and beyond. As part of Matariki ki Waikato, WWP and Go Eco partnered with Te Ohu Whakaita to host four engaging kai wānanga, each aligned with a different star of the Matariki cluster and the unique food systems they represent. These wānanga celebrated mātauranga Māori, stories of kai, and the importance of community connection.The series launched with an opening ceremony where our Waikato Kai Challenge Project Lead,...

Te Ara Poutama Update

 Quarterly Data Stories & InsightsWe have launched a regular quarterly “Did you Know?” data story series to bring the numbers to life. These are short, accessible insights that combine regional data with real-world impact, bringing evidence and local insight to the forefront. Each data story features interactive visuals and localised data, designed for community leaders and whānau alike. The purpose of each report will be to take a key regional topic, explore the state of knowledge...

Hauraki Opportunity: Update

The Hauraki Opportunity has been a multi-year project that has brought together organisations at all levels of community, to co-design and apply a wellbeing measurement and management system from the flaxroots upwards. The Hauraki Opportunity was co-constructed with, and applied by and for, the people of Hauraki, including those who work, live, play, or whakapapa to Thames Coromandel, Hauraki or Matamata-Piako districts: from Moehau to Te Aroha, across the Hauraki Plains, and up to the Wharekawa...

Housing Challenge – Affordability

The WWP has been working across a number of different wellbeing domains (for example food security and youth wellbeing)- many of which have consistently pointed back to the price of housing as a key factor which undermines household wellbeing and prosperity. This month, our Lots of Little Fires story on The Serve has underlined the effect of unaffordable housing on food insecurity, while the Child Poverty Action Group (Child Poverty Action Group | Scoop InfoPages)   has recently restat...

Housing Challenge – Ethical Landlords

Over the past year, Joe Wilson has been researching the rental situation, the growing inequalities and housing instability in the Whaingaroa community.The findings have been grim but with flickers of hope that something better can be achieved. Joe wrote an article for the Local Raglan Newspaper and gave a radio interview to shine a light on the need for an ethical landlord culture and collective, in order to protect and home our local people and their families. Listen to the full radio interview...

Lots of Little Fires Update

The past two months have been busy in the Lots of Little Fires kaupapa. The final edit of ‘The Serve’ story was successfully released to a wonderful reception. You can see The Serve’s story here: https://youtu.be/O3yj4GbvdEw It is a story we are really proud of and we thank Murdoch Daly, our videographer extraordinaire, for once again capturing and editing the magic which reflects the beauty and heart of the people who give so much of themselves to the service of others. We also thank Mare...

The Rangatahi Opportunity: Ōtautahi Visit Youth Sector with The Len Reynolds Trust

Melissa Gibson, CE of the Len Reynolds Trust has worked closely with the Waikato Youth Sector in systems change mahi over the past five years.  With a strategy that is now designed and being implemented to support and enable cross sector innovation and collaboration in line with Te Tiriti Ō Waitangi, Melissa organised a 14 strong Youth Sector Leaders trip to Ōtautahi.From 16–18 June 2025, a dynamic delegation of youth sector leaders from across the Waikato touched down in Christchurch f...

Trustee Tinder

Hamilton technology entrepreneur and community leader Alan Chew has noticed that across the region, many community organisations are doing incredible mahi, but the one challenge he hears about most is the shortage of qualified, committed trustees.To help bridge that gap, Alan has teamed up with Community Waikato and Volunteering Waikato to launch Trustee Tinder. This is a fun and purposeful trustee speed-dating event to connect skilled professionals with the community organisations.Date: Wednesd...

WWP Business Plan

The WWP Business Plan sets out our priority projects for the next 12 months. The plan follows the same general format as the 2024-25 plan and continues the same theory of change which we developed last year to describe how the WWP works, and what value looks like for us.The plan builds on the review of the WWP completed earlier this year. A key conclusion of the review was that in order to further succeed, the WWP needs to scale ‘up and out’- engaging better with organisations who it can par...

WWP: Next Steps

The WWP is now in its fifth year of implementation. As a ‘project’ the WWP exists only as long as it has supporting funders. Our major funding source was provide via a 5-year agreement between the WEL Energy Trust and the Waikato Regional Council, and we are now in the fifth year of that agreement. Following the completion of our review (above), while we are confident that the project has achieved its objectives so far, we need to plan for the next iteration of the WWP and potential changes....

Kai Challenge Update

Since March, the Waikato Kai Challenge has seen steady momentum in its lived experience workstream. In partnership with ThinkPlace and Tuakana Teina, we are currently working towards a Memorandum of Understanding with a community partner to guide a collaborative storytelling project centred on food security and wellbeing.The first community to participate has been confirmed, and early conversations are underway to identify a second. These lived experience insights will inform a set of co-designe...

Advocacy - Enabling Housing and Wellbeing Through Smarter Water Infrastructure

The Waikato Wellbeing Project has recently provided feedback to Hamilton City and Waikato District Councils on their proposal to establish a joint Council-Controlled Organisation (CCO) for water services. On 6 May, Harvey gave evidence at Hamilton City’s hearing for the CCO proposal (below). Our submission and evidence was reported on by the Waikato Times, which you can read here: Waters CCO debate bubbles on despite majority submitter support | Waikato Times...

Lots of Little Fires Update

Lots of Little Fires, as always, have been burning deep in our Waikato communities and Muredach and Joe have been capturing the magic of two incredible kaupapa over the past two months. Both these stories are now in edit and we look forward to releasing the first by the end of this month of May. Firstly, we have ‘The Serve’.THE SERVE … free healthy kai, 365 days a year, served to our food poor and homeless communities by a team of over 100 volunteers.What’s it all about?The Serve has bee...

Te Ara Poutama Update

In alignment with our 2025-26 Business Plan, we regularly monitor quarterly topical and place-specific updates on key wellbeing issues in the Waikato region.Overall outlookIn the March quarter of 2025, Waikato's socio-economic landscape is characterised by cautious optimism. While economic activity and confidence are improving, retail and employment levels remain below historic highs. As Waikato continues to evolve, understanding the region’s social and economic dynamics is essential for foste...

Plea to treat Hamilton streeties as ‘humans’ (Published by Waikato Times 4 April 2025)

Treating streeties as “humans” and taking a more positive approach to their use of Garden Place has been suggested by community organisation advocates at a city council committee meeting.But several councillors responded by speaking out strongly against streeties’ bad behaviour in Garden Place and the CBD, and one pushed back at suggestions the wider community bore some responsibility for problems.During a public forum at the meeting on Thursday, trustees from Frankton-...

Hungry kids in an agricultural powerhouse (Published by Waikato Times 4 April 2025)

Ernie Newman is a semi-retired consultant living in the Waikato, with an extensive background in the grocery, telecommunications, and business advocacy sectors.OPINION: While looking at the recent issues around school lunches, it was encouraging to come across the Waikato Wellbeing Project’s report ‘Want Amongst Plenty’ which measures food insecurity in the Waikato and considers possible remedies. Its conclusion is that 9-10% of Waikato households. including 10-12% of Waikato children...

WWP: 2024 in Hindsight

Every year, the WWP reports to the Kaitiaki Advisory Board, WRC the WEL Energy Trust and our valued stakeholders on our performance and achievements over the past 12 months. The report gives an aggregated summary, as well as a detailed breakdown of the performance of each of our major programmes of work, measured against our 2024/25 Business Plan.Overall, we are very pleased with the progress made in 2024, especially given the scale of the task we have taken on, our small size and limited mandat...

WWP Review

At its Annual Plan hearings and deliberations in early 2024, the WEL Trust resolved to continue funding the Waikato Wellbeing Project, subject to “a robust review of future funding models and project deliveries.”We contracted Natalie Richards of Versus (www.versus.co.nz ) to undertake the review, which was completed in February 2025. The review was conducted in late 2024 using a qualitative data collection approach. A total of 36 people participated in the review, including funders, capital ...

WEL Energy Trust Annual Plan

The WEL Energy Trust was the foundational funder of the Waikato Wellbeing Project through a 5-year Partnership and Funding Agreement with the Waikato Regional Council. We are now approaching the fifth year of funding under this agreement from the WEL Trust.Each year the Trust prepares an Annual Plan, which is open for public comment before making a final budget decision on 25 March. The draft 2025/26 Annual Plan can be viewed here (Draft-Annual-Plan.pdf).  You can make submission on the pla...

Kai Challenge Update- Foodshed Analysis

In December we shared the results of our baseline research on food in the Waikato region - Want Amongst Plenty. This report brought together, for the first time, a series of indicators regarding food security and insecurity in the Waikato region.The second in our series of research reports on Kai have now been completed. A foodshed analysis measures how much food the Waikato region produces, and how much food the people of the Waikato need for a good, healthy diet. The report was commissioned as...

Anna Casey-Cox: The need for Affordable Rentals

Hamilton City Councillor and SDG 1/2 Manu Taki, Dr. Anna Casey- Cox shares her thoughts about the importance of affordable rents- not only in terms of the need for safe and secure homes, but also the relationship between housing and kai security- which was highlighted by the WWP’s 2024 report Want Amongst Plenty.  For more information contact Anna at Anna.Casey-Cox@council.hcc.govt.nz...

Taurikura: A Story of Treaty Partnership and Thriving Together

A preview of our upcoming Lots of Little Fires Story....

Young Waikato Women’s Wellbeing Baseline Report and Event

WWP SDG 5 Manu Taki Riikka Anderson is the General Manager of YWCA Hamilton and is a champion for SDG 5 Gender Equality. No target for this important SDG was developed at the commencement of the WWP as there was inadequate baseline data on the wellbeing of different genders in the Waikato, including for woman.In partnership with WEL Trust, Trust Waikato and YWCA, we have co-funded research to better understand the key drivers of wellbeing in the Waikato for young woman and people identifying as ...