REGULAR EVENTS
Working bees
These are held on the third Saturday of each month, meeting at 9 am at the watershed. They provide an opportunity for neighbours and other interested volunteers to participate in seasonal tasks in the gully. After the mahi is done there is an opportunity for kai and interaction with other volunteers.
Propagating group.
This will also meet on the third Saturday of each month at 9am at the watershed. The purpose of this group is to collect seed from our gully and grow them on. There are also seedlings to pot on for later planting out. After the mahi is done there is an opportunity for kai and interaction with other volunteers.
Mid-week working bees.
These are held every Wednesday at 10.30 meeting at the watershed. These have an educational focus appropriate to the season.
Bioblitz
The first Kukutaaruhe Bioblitz day was held on 13th November 2020. Students and teachers from local schools and members of the community attended. They all experienced a variety of science activities, including:
· finding kokopu in the stream.
· investigating animal tracks,
· identifying plant species in a quadrant
· identifying species in soil samples.
Bioblitz is now an annual event.
Matariki
Friday, July 14 2023, saw the dawn of a new tradition for the Fairfield Project with the hosting of an early morning Matariki celebration. More than 50 people attended the event at the project’s site at the Kukutaaruhe Gully to mark the Māori New Year. Organised by the Kukutaaruhe Education Trust in partnership with Ngāti Wairere the celebration was opened with a karakia by kaumatua Piripi Matika.
Eddie Neha provided attendees with an explanation about the meaning of Matariki, and explained why some iwi celebrate it and spoke about each star in the constellation. “My goal was to acknowledge this is a positive Maori kaupapa that we can all celebrate together.”
Roger Cox acting chair of the trust said he felt the event had struck a good tone of being both formal and respectful of tikanga but also informal enough that all in attendance could follow the proceedings. “We held the event to mark the occasion and to help develop a better sense of community awareness about what Matariki meant or could mean to people.”
Neha, who is Ngāti Maniapoto and married into Ngāti Wairere, led attendees in the tradition of acknowledging and lifting up whanau and friends who had passed in the past year.
“You could see how special it was for those who called out names, they were really emotional.”
Mataraiki will be held annually.
MATARIKI 2024
Another successful Matariki celebration was held on 28th June 2024.
Here is a video of the event.
Community Planting days
Community planting days are held every winter planting season. Each year more than a thousand trees are planted in in the Kukutaaruhe gully.
These days fulfill one of our goals which is “community building”. This is typified by the following comment:
‘Thanks so much for this opportunity, I have never done anything like that before - it felt really worthwhile.’ (Community voice 2021)
