Te Āti Hau Trust - Chair Report

Tēnā tātau i runga i ngā āhuatanga o te wā.

On behalf of Te Āti Hau Trust, I am pleased to present the annual report for the 2023/2024 financial year.

It’s been a busy year for the Trust, applying funding to advance education, cultural, health and wellbeing aspirations for whānau who whakapapa to Ātihau whenua.

Taking particular care with budgeting and forecasting – and as a result of building up reserves –we’ve been able to deliver on grant expections for shareholder whānau, even though we didn’t receive a financial contribution from Ātihau this year.

More than $361,059 was distributed through 556 grants – a decrease of $75,657 from the previous year.

Kaumātua Grants

The number of applications and grants paid has increased, with 194 grants totalling $151,739 approved. This compares with 157 grants totalling $124,874 in the previous year.

Given our ageing population, this remains an important area for the Trust. We expect application numbers to increase over time and we’re thinking about more strategic partnerships with like-minded organisations to help meet the needs of our kaumātua.

Most of the grant allocations are in the three focus areas of hearing (funding hearing aids), eyes (glasses) and teeth (dental work). We’ve seen an increase in other medical requests as well, such as general practitioner costs. We do our best to help in any way we can and it’s good knowing we are able to support the wellbeing and comfort of our kaumātua.

Education Grants & Scholarships

We love investing in the future of our people. We received 192 education applications this year, 27 more than last year, distributing a total of $117,150 in grants and scholarships.

The Trust awarded $101,700 in 140 separate grants to those attending tertiary education, studying subjects in diverse fields such as health, science, te ao Māori, engineering and design, business, agriculture, education, arts and law. A further $10,750 was awarded to support 43 secondary school students. We continue to support shareholder whānau in trades training, approving $4,700 for nine trades grants.

Partnerships & Collaboration

We’re acutely aware that without the relationships we have with our co-funders, we wouldn’t be able to meet as many grant requests.

Through our partnership with the Māori Education Trust we have additional tripartite agreements with Te Herenga Waka (Victoria University), Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa (Massey University) and Te Wānanga Aronui o Tāmaki Makau Rau (AUT). These co-funding agreements have brought in valuable additional funding of $66,000 to Te Āti Hau

Trust grant recipients. It’s in the best interests of our shareholders that we continue to explore these sorts of arrangements, to ensure our funding is more diverse and sustainable.

Governance

This year we bid farewell to Independent Trustee Claire Cilliers, and Trustees Che Wilson and Dr Brendon Te Tiwha Puketapu. I’d like to thank and acknowledge Claire, Che and Brendon for their time and expertise shared around the Trust table.

Keria Ponga returns to us as a trustee and Kemp Dryden has also been appointed trustee from the Incorporation governance table.

Associate Trustee Tukariri Dryden’s term has been extended until the end of the year. We’ve also been lucky to have the expertise of Incorporation Associate Directors Charles Chadwick and Jason Ashford.

It’s always great to have uri who are passionate about how we can support the needs of our whānau, making significant contributions to the mahi and our Trust.

Strategic Direction

In the past year we’ve reviewed our strategic plan to make sure we’re covering the work necessary to enable our shareholders and their whānau to pursue their aspirations and goals.

For the next 12 months, rather than implementing new projects or programmes, we want to make sure we have robust processes supporting our business-as-

usual activities. This will give us confidence that we’re meeting not only the directives of Ātihau and expectations of whānau, but also ourselves as a Trust.

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank my fellow Trustees for their energy and commitment over the year, enabling our people to reach their potential, so that they can help strengthen our Ātihau communities.

I also wish to thank ĀtihauWhanganui Incorporation – the foundation of everything we do at the Trust – for its continued support, guidance and leadership.

And to our shareholder whānau, whose drive and achievements are a deep source of pride for us all, tēnā rawa atu kautau.

Ngā mihi nui

Dr Rāwiri Tinirau Te Āti Hau Trust Chair