Supporting Communities

The Kupe Gas Project team is passionate about health and safety. In fact safety is our number one priority, so we are delighted to be able to support Surf Life Saving Taranaki.

Surf Life Saving Taranaki not only provides beach patrols for Taranaki's beaches, it also provides a range of educational programmes to keep New Zealand’s favourite playground safe for everyone.

The beach education programme is vitally important for Taranaki children, especially due to the surf on the West Coast being unpredictable and dangerous.

Until last year, not all schools had been able to participate in the programme because of the cost.

With a grant of $7,500 from the Kupe Gas Project Community Grants Programme, Surf Life Saving Taranaki covered the cost of 1500 children from the Hawera / Manaia area attending the beach education programme. This allowed schools who had not previously attended the programme to do so.

The programme, run by fully qualified lifeguards, teaches practical skills to help children keep safe. One of the most valuable lessons they are taught is how to read the surf so they can spot rips and other dangers. The programme also teaches the top ten beach safety rules including the major three - always swim between the flags, never swim alone and always have an adult watch over you.

For further information about the beach education programme or Surf Life Saving Taranaki go to http://www.taranakisurf.org.

The South Taranaki District Museum Trust first came to the attention of the Kupe Gas Project early in 2007, when a cannonball dating back to 1834 was found on the site of the Kupe on-shore Production Station.

Since then the Kupe Gas Project has become aware of the work the museum does to preserve and showcase South Taranaki’s rich and diverse social and cultural history.

Providing a grant to a Museum that provides so much to the community seemed like a natural fit for the Kupe Gas Project.

Located in Patea, the South Taranaki District Museum covers a large collection of artifacts including taonga and archives that relate specifically to South Taranaki.

The museum is best described as representing colonial Taranaki, with exhibits covering early settlers, New Zealand wars, local industries and houses. Maori history is also well represented through the Aotea Utanginui Maori Court, which displays art, carvings, tukutuku weaving, clothing and weapons.

With a grant of $2,300 from the Kupe Gas Project Community Grants Programme, the museum was able to fund the purchase of archival material allowing it to conserve and protect the collection for generations to come, something the Museums Trust is very excited about.

The South Taranaki Museum is open daily from 10-3pm 7 days at 127 Egmont St, Patea. For further information on visit http://www.stdc.co.nz/

New Zealand volunteer fire brigades play a major role in providing an emergency response to New Zealand communities. In Manaia the community depends on 24 volunteers for their every day fire protection.

Safety is paramount to us at the Kupe Gas Project so we are pleased to be able to support the good work of the Manaia Volunteer Fire Brigade, and help keep the community safe, through our Community Grants Programme.

Community Grants Programme funding of $7,500 was put towards a new van for the fire police unit to support volunteers and help provide a rapid response to emergencies in the surrounding districts.

Established 12 years ago, Ngaruahine iwi Maatua Whangai provides holiday and development programmes for children and young people from within the Ngaruahine iwi.

The objective of these programmes is to develop and motivate the youth by providing a positive environment in which they can learn to work and play together as well as understand their culture.

Based in Manaia, the programmes include numerous fun and educational activities, including sleep-overs at the Marae, roller skating, indoor sports and swimming sessions.

The $5000 grant received from the Kupe Gas Project Community Grants Programme has enabled Ngaruahine iwi Maatua Whangai to offer a number of their 07/08 programmes at a lower cost and at times at no cost. This has meant that all young people within the Ngaruahine iwi now have the opportunity to partake in these invaluable programmes.

Kupe Gas Project acknowledges the importance of these programmes to this community and were delighted to lend a hand by helping to make these programmes accessible to all young people of the Ngaruahine iwi.

Rangitaawhi o te Taihauaunu is a unique Kapa Haka group run by youth for youth. The group hopes that through their impressive performances they can develop and promote the Maori culture to all South Taranaki youth.

Rangitaawhi o te Taihauaunu was established in May 2007, in Patea, a small town with a population of around 1400 residents. With limited activities available to the young people of Patea, the founders of Rangitaawhi o te Taihauaunu felt that a Kapa Haka group would be the ideal activity to help build pride amongst the youth and to keep them off the streets.

Promoting the Maori culture to all young people in Taranaki is important to the Kupe Gas Project and seeing these young people take action and wanting to make a difference is outstanding.

The group received $1,600 from the Kupe Gas Project Community Grants Programme, so that they had the means to purchase cultural costumes for their 35-40 members. These costumes are used for performances and when competing.