Tararua REAP marks busy 40th year

• Published date: 29 May 2023
• Author: Dave Murdoch
• Publication title: Bush Telegraph

Guided by its manager Claire Chapman, the organisation greatly expanded its Adult Community Education (ACE) role to over 10,000 hours in the year, providing vital courses to give locals support in these difficult times — art, stone carving and pounamu classes to lift spirits, while skills courses related to employment such as cooking on a budget, forklift driving and others helped people into careers

It supported wellbeing with courses such as a six-week health and wellness programme and ran activities like girls’ self defence and Rongoa Māori teaching traditional remedies and Māori medicine.

It ran sustainability and waste minimisation workshops on topics like composting and waste free cooking and supported early childhood education in such topics as dyslexia and visual processing and its Strengthening Families Programme gave guidance at vital times in a family’s existence.

ACE also provided a new financial mentoring programme called Ducks in a Row helping people with life challenges related to legal issues, care plans, MSD, funerals and insurances.

Accessibility to some of these programmes was greatly facilitated with the purchase...