Following on the national roll out of Te Pou o Te Whare, a community-led, insights-driven initiative out of Healthy Families Ōtautahi that seeks to increase access for rangatahi and tamariki in care to sport, play and active recreation, funding has been secured for Whakakaupapa Unbreakable, a ten-week physical activity programme at Te Poutama Ara Rangatahi for their rangatahi in residence.

Thanks to The Unbreakable Foundation in collaboration with Selwyn Sports Trust, Whakakaupapa Unbreakable will see a coach on-site at Te Poutama Ara Rangatahi for 90-minutes a week for an education session alongside physical activity. Five rangatahi in residence aged between 12-18 years old will be involved in the programme – the majority of the participants are male, and of Māori descent. The second delivery will involve ten Rolleston College students and referrals from Rolleston Police, and will be held in the community.

The educational aspect of Whakakaupapa Unbreakable will introduce the concept of Te Whare Tapa Whā, a holistic Māori model of wellbeing used widely in schools and kura throughout Aotearoa. The model uses the symbol of the wharenui to illustrate the four dimensions of Māori wellbeing: taha tinana (physical health), taha wairua (spiritual health), taha whānau (family health) and taha hinengaro (mental health), with participants encouraged to create action plans to improve their wellbeing. What that looks like in residence, as well as back in the community, will also be discussed.  

The physical activities are based on learning three fundamental powerlifting movements – squat, deadlift and benchpress. These help rangatahi develop a skill, learn how they might use the movements differently depending on personal goals, and measure their progress and improvement throughout the programme.

The Unbreakable Foundation secured fundings courtesy of Tū Manawa Active Aotearoa, which provides funding for programmes delivering play, active recreation and sport experiences for tamariki and rangatahi. Managed by Sport Canterbury, applications for Tū Manawa must target those living with disabilities, or communities with higher levels of deprivation, or girls and young women.

Young people in residential care have lower physical and mental health levels than the general population, alongside lower levels of education, which limits their exposure to what is or isn’t healthy behaviour. Rangatahi in residence have access to many forms of support, like education and health services - Whakakaupapa Unbreakable consolidates and reinforces this support while tying to an external goal such as improved performance in powerlifting or another skill rangatahi are working on.

Rangatahi within the community are facing similar challenges to those in care when it comes to education and support for accessing physical activity - Sergeant Royden Van Dyk from Rolleston Police, who The Unbreakable Foundation have been working with to develop Whakakaupapa Unbreakable, has been getting feedback from parents, rangatahi and tamariki as well as Rolleston College’s Principal that programs like this are needed, with The Unbreakable Foundation receiving requests for rangatahi to join the programme via their whānau. The second delivery of Whakakaupapa Unbreakable will see referrals for participation come through Rolleston Police as well as from Rolleston College, with the latter kindly offering to drive rangatahi to and from the gym where the programme will be held, alongside the generosity of a sponsor.

The goal of the second wave of Whakakaupapa Unbreakable will be for rangatahi who are at risk of getting into bad places and trouble will learn valuable skills, allow them to connect better with the community and with each other, and reduce the chance of them going to residential care, or getting into serious trouble.