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Growing our Rangatahi

Over the last six months in Putaruru we have been gathering the local rangatahi (young people) for creative workshops. The Rangatahi Creative Art Summits have been a day of fun, movement, expression, learning and connecting with others. New dance moves are taught, a meal is eaten together, whakatauki are explored and looked at how they apply to our personal lives, drum lessons and art workshops. We have been privileged to have both local tutors and from the Waikato and Auckland join us for these...

Youth Driver Licencing

Transform Aotearoa is stoked to now be offering Licencing programs for Putaruru Youth. This kicked off last month with a Learner Licencing program, and a Defensive Driving Course. Congratulations to all the graduates, look at these happy faces that featured in the South Waikato News! 100% passed, well done to all of you!! These programs are offered free of charge, and we hope to offer more youth licencing in the April school holidays....

Merry Christmas and Thank you!

Wow, it's just days until Christmas and 2016 is almost through. What a year it's been! From us here at Transform Aotearoa, we want to send a truck-load of thanks to everyone that has been a part of Transform Aotearoa in 2016. There are too many to name, but what an amazing - and growing - whānau we are!! We are taking a little rest for a few weeks over Christmas and are excited to kick into 2017 next month. Merry Christmas!!...

Giving Local Families a Boost

We have been receiving a lot of feedback from the community about the need for a parenting course. In response to this, we ran a brand new program here this term: Building Awesome Whānau, with a focus on raising 0-12 year olds. This six week course is very practical and full of helpful ideas and strategies. It was attended by a great mix of parents, grandparents foster parents and caregivers. This was a pilot for us, but with such a successful program, and overwhelmingly positive feedback from ...

Rangatahi Creative Arts Summits arrive in Putaruru (Nov)

This month we kicked off the first Rangatahi Creative Arts Summit in Putaruru, with an afternoon of hip hop and song writing, drums and guitar. It was a fantastic start for these events and inspiring to see the talent in our young people. We are excited to be launching regular creative outlets and development opportunities for the youth of Putaruru, and these will be held monthly during the year.The next summit is on December 17th, from 10am -3pm. More details coming soon, but spread the word an...

Transform Aotearoa Celebrates Two Years

Last month we celebrated two years of Transform Aotearoa. We had a great evening, gathering together at our Putaruru base, to celebrate the journey so far, including hearing from some of our community, support team, and a beautiful waiata from both our Women’s community, and our Te Reo group. And of course, we finished with a great meal together too!What a wonderful night of coming together and connecting with our wider community to celebrate the personal stories of growth and great things tha...

Rangatahi Creative Arts Comes to Putaruru

We are really excited about the Rangatahi Creative Arts Summit on THIS Saturday, right here in Putaruru. Don't miss out, text Naomi for details or to register!!...

The People Interpreter comes to town

In October we hosted "People Interpreter" Allie Mooney for two days of inspiration and practical tips on relationships, communication and parenting, through understanding how people tick. We enjoyed having Allie in town for two days as she inspired our Business After 5 community, local ladies and a wider all-in community night. Her fun and entertaining style was thoroughly enjoyed by everyone, while her practical insights and stories gave everyone attending some great tools to better understan...

Love-Bombing our Town

We had an awesome day 'love bombing' our local community, by taking to the streets with flowers and sweet treats to thank our community for all they do here in Putaruru.It was so much fun, to get out in our community and thank our local Police, Social Services & Corrections staff who serve our community, as well as our local business owners that work so hard to provide us with the resources and services that keep Putaruru running. Joining with local church Putaruru Gospel Chapel, we enjoyed brig...

Licenced to Drive

Having a drivers licence is important for getting round, and something that employers often require, and in Putaruru we know that well. Here at Transform Aotearoa, and in partnership with Moving Mountains NZ, driver training is available right here in Putaruru, so that locals can access free driver licencing courses in both theory and practical, along with mock tests to assess their progress and prepare them for sitting their Learner and Restricted Licence.Transform Aotearoa has a dual-control c...

Colour Art

On Thursday mornings, we get creative, as we gather together to create works of colour art. We have a dedicated group of locals from Putaruru and Tokoroa who come along, and we always love to have new faces join us. This term we have embarked on a large colour art mural, which continues to come to life each week, as everyone adds their personal splash of colour.Our Colour Art morning is run in conjunction with Tokoroa Council of Social Services and Progress Health, and is on every Thursday morni...

Celebrating Te Reo Week (July 2016)

This week we celebrated Maori language week by welcoming visitors from Raukawa advanced and learner Te Reo classes at Tokoroa and Tirau. Over fifty people attended and visitors were welcomed with a powhiri by Transform Te Kai O Te Rangatira (our Transform Aotearoa Te Reo group).This was the first time that these community language groups in the district have gathered together, and was a great occasion to bring new learners and advanced Te Reo speakers together to celebrate the Maori language. It...

Limitless Creative Arts Summit

Another AWESOME event was held over the weekend at Whakamarama Marae, near Te Awamutu.The Transform Aotearoa Limitless Creative Arts Summit was sponsored by the Ministry of Youth Development, and had many young people attending from Putaruru, Te Awamutu and wider Waikato and Taumarunui. The group met with and had a chance to be inspired by the NZ X Factor winner Beau Monga, along with a host of other creative artists running hip hop dance, food creation, songwriting and music workshops for guita...

Congratulations to our Graduates!

Last month we celebrated the graduation of twelve men from the latest Te Kaupapa Whakamana program in Putaruru. All twelve are on sentences ranging from parole and home detention to supervision, and the Te Kaupapa Whakamana program has helped these men gain insight into areas including anger, substance abuse, depression and relationship dynamics."It's about empowering and inspiring men to be great", says Lamen, the program facilitator. "We see offenders become motivated and go on to make positiv...

Limitless

We have 48 youth already signed up for our event. We're going to cap it at 60 (not including parent/helpers) - If there is Rangatahi wanting to come along then txt Jade on 0275777706 ASAP...

World Cup comes to Putaruru

What a fantastic day we had hosting the Rugby World Cup and Wayne Smith at Transform Aotearoa!"This is your cup" - Wayne SmithHow cool is that! We got to touch it and hold it...all the All blacks have held it as well!Some more pictures here too:...

Famous in The Prattler

Check out our article in The Prattler - Putaruru's Community Newspaper: On the 31st March, Transform Aotearoa opened up the doors of their newly renovated building which will be home to their suite of family restoration programmes. The building owners, (the Smith family), were present at the opening and Wayne Smith was the main guest speaker. “This is a reallygreat thing for Putaruru - it’s good for families, good for the town and good for the soul,” said Wayne, during ...