2023 Community Awards Porirua Winner Citations
Supreme Winner
Atafu Tokelau Community Group
The Atafu Tokelau Community group is a charity organisation that promotes religious, social, cultural, and traditional family structures and values, through educational, health and welfare development for the Tokelau community in the greater Wellington region. Their vision is to build a strong, resilient, connected and thriving Tokelauan community in Aotearoa.
Arts & Culture
Porirua Multicultural Council - Winner
Porirua Multicultural Council is a group of passionate individuals who have a heart to serve the community in Porirua. Their vision is to improve and address the needs of migrants, former refugees, and newcomers as they settle into the Porirua area. They have also recently established a community hub that welcomes all; a place for anyone to come and share a cuppa and to have a kōrero, where people feel safe, heard, and feel like they belong.
Pacific Connection Choir – Runner Up
Pacific Connection Choir is a volunteer choir made up of friends and whānau from all over the Wellington region. Formed in 2019, they explore their gifts of singing through the varied Pacific styles and do what they do for the love of music and sharing it with the community. Last year they won gold in the chorus competition at the Barbershop Harmony NZ convention and this year they represented New Zealand at the International convention in Louisville, Kentucky.
Coastal Quilters – Runner Up
Coastal Quilters are a group of enthusiastic quilters from across the region who have a passion for quilting. They meet monthly in Porirua to share quilting information, learn hints and tips, and bond with like-minded people. This group hold quilting exhibitions, host guest speakers, run workshops and gift quilts to the community through organisations such as the Red Cross.
Education and Child and Youth Development
Wellington Riding for Disabled – Winner
Wellington Riding for the Disabled provides a unique and high-quality therapy for people with disabilities in the greater Wellington region using horses. Their goal is to change the lives of people in their community experiencing disability to enhance their education, development, social and health wellbeing through therapeutic horse-riding programmes. They teach skills that are transferrable to everyday life.
The Voyage – Te Roopu Tiaki Rangatahi – Runner Up
The Voyage – Te Roopu Tiaki Rangatahi is responsible for designing and delivering programmes and events for young people in the Porirua region. They are a collective of rangatahi who volunteer to push and encourage change in areas where youth otherwise tend to fall through the gaps.
Health and Wellbeing
Atafu Tokelau Community Group – Winner
The Atafu Tokelau Community group is a charity organisation that promotes religious, social, cultural, and traditional family structures and values, through educational, health and welfare development for the Tokelau community in the greater Wellington region. Their vision is to build a strong, resilient, connected and thriving Tokelauan community in Aotearoa.
Pātaka Kai Porirua Youth – Runner Up
Pātaka Kai Porirua Youth connect with charity groups, schools, and other organisations to gift free kai to youth in need. Operating for the last five years, Pātaka Kai Porirua Youth is rangatahi-led with the support of parents. Their motto is “Take what you need and give back what you can”.
Heritage and Environment
Plimmerton Volunteer Fire Brigade – Winner
Plimmerton Volunteer Fire Brigade helps in a variety of emergencies in the local area including fire, medical, motor vehicle, search and rescue, civil defence, and natural disaster response. Volunteers are available 24/7, giving up precious family time to serve the community when it needs them most.
Predator Free Pukerua Bay – Runner Up
Predator Free Pukerua Bay provide traps and child and pet-resistant tunnels to backyard trappers on a pay-it-forward basis. They maintain a network of trap lines on public land to trap pests like possums and stoats. The group also has a goal to raise awareness of the impact of predator species on natives.
Sport & Leisure
Āhuru Mōwai Trust – Winner
Āhuru Mōwai Trust is a non-profit organisation that provides safe spaces and places for families who have children with extra and special needs. The trust was founded by a group of parents who were struggling to find support for their children. There are now over 100 member who participate in sensory playgroups, family support groups and advocacy for the needs of children with extra and special needs.
NCPC Taniwha Cricket Team – Runner Up
NCPC Taniwha Cricket has two social T20 cricket teams. The teams are not only about cricket but a way of feeling connected and belonging for the mostly middle-aged men who are 30 to 65 years old. There are mental health benefits as well as the members’ whānau and tamariki being actively involved.
Rising Star
Taumata Whitireia – Winner
Taumata Whitireia is a combination of graduate students from Whitireia Performing Arts in Porirua who focus on cultural elements of a diverse Aotearoa. Taumata Whitireia provide an opportunity for budding students to live their dreams through performing arts. They have been hand-selected to attend the arts festival in Italy to represent Aotearoa later this year.