Hughes Place Project | Te Taurahere Whatumanawa (Heart Strings – the rope that ties our hearts together)
The Hughes Place project in Tāneatua, Bay of Plenty, is the vision of Rev Tamiana and Honey Thrupp from Te Aka Puahou (the Presbyterian Church’s Māori Synod). It is a collaboration involving Te Aka Puahou, PressGo, Presbyterian Support Northern and the Have a Heart Trust in Whakatāne, led by Rev Chris Barnard.
Growing Hope in a Garden
The Hughes Place project is based around the community garden in Hughes Place (a street with 20 households within a township of less than 1000 people) which Tamiana and Honey have developed over recent years with support from Rotary, local businesses, local iwi, the surrounding neighbourhood, their whānau and more recently, from Saint Kentigern Schools who have built a children’s playground in the garden.
A Local Response to a Big Question
As they thought about what it meant to support their local community, Tamiana and Honey said: ‘we contemplated, how can we make a difference, how can we help people find hope again without them having to go to the cities, leaving behind their homes and families. What can we do locally, how can we create a vibe that says ‘local is sweet as’. Quoted from The story of Te Taurahere Whatumanawa 'the rope that ties our hearts together.’
One Life, One Street at a Time
Their dream was to ‘inspire Tāneatua one life at a time, one household at a time, one street at a time.’ In 2016 after many conversations in their local community and a lot of prayer, they decided to start a community garden in their street on land gifted to them. They had at their heart a slogan which said ‘everyone plays an important role, no one is to be excluded.’
More Than a Garden: A Place to Gather and Grow
They aimed to reduce poverty by providing food security through the development of a community garden, provision of a pātaka kai, training in growing food and produce and other community support all aimed at benefitting the health, wellbeing and resilience of the local neighbourhood. The garden attracted significant buy-in from local iwi, businesses and service groups to help in the development of the land. It also became a significant gathering point for the community with regular picnic days, film evening, community events and Christmas services.
It became a vehicle for offering courses on budgeting, parenting skills and education on non-violence in the home with a particular focus on White Ribbon. The White Ribbon Riders have been welcome visitors to Hughes Place Garden for a number of years now.
Watch this movie to learn more of the story of Hughes Place Garden.
Resources:
Watch a 4-minute movie about Hughes Place Garden: Here!
Read more about Hughes Place Garden here: https://haveaheart.org.nz/hughes-place-project/
Sally Mann tells the story on the Nomad podcast of her Baptist congregation’s community development work in East Ham, London, including the significant part their community garden has played. Sally Mann - Encountering the Neighbourhood (N298) - (nomadpodcast.co.uk)